Asuka Langley Sohryu, Pilot Errant
by okuaku
Summary: Asuka goes nuts!!! A Don Quixote/Evangelion crossover. F.U.C.K. approved.
1. One

Disclaimer: Evangelion and its characters are copyrighted by Gainax and are the creation of Hideaki Anno.  
  
  
Asuka Langley Sohryu, Pilot Errant   
  
Er-rant adj. 1. roving or wandering, esp. in search of adventure; itinerant 2. erring or straying from what is right or the right course  
  
Asuka Langley Sohryu was a remarkable teenage girl in many ways. From the moment she was born, in December of the year 2001, people constantly described her as beautiful. Even as a hairless baby her undeveloped perfect features could be seen. In fact, she would never in her life hear someone describe her as ugly or less than beautiful in any way. But, in spite of this, she did not aspire to be a model or supermodel whose worth would decline with age. Also, despite her unparalleled intelligence, she did not desire to be merely a great scientist or physicist. She had higher aspirations. She didn't know what those aspirations were, but she knew they were damned high. These unknown aspirations obsessed her. These phantom aspirations haunted her daily, taunting her for her puny role in the universe.  
  
At the age of 12 she graduated from a university in Germany, driven by this great ambition. No one living could claim the same thing. 'Genius' was not a strong enough word to describe her intellect, and no words exist that begin to define her devotion to her own self-improvement. To her knowledge she was also the most beautiful person in existence as well. Simply put, she was the best there was, looking at it from her own perspective. But to her, that was just a starting point.   
  
She did not aspire to any one occupation, because none of them would be broad enough to encompass her vision of perfection. Instead she sought out some divine position that would allow her to realize her ambitions, and display her greatness for everyone to see. At the age of 13 she began learning to speak Japanese and write Kanji. This is mentioned because it is very important, though she considered it a minor thing at the time.  
  
Within a year she was nearly fluent, aided heavily by popular Japanese animation and manga. They were very practical as learning tools, but also very entertaining to her. She began to idolize certain animated characters as she gradually became fluent in Japanese, as they were each the center of their own separate universes. They had achieved the very ideal she sought.   
  
Now, it should be said that after mastering the Japanese language she had planned on learning several languages; Russian, Latin, Mandarin, French, Italian, and so on. It was something she planned on doing on the side, in passing. Her ambition was to be nothing less than perfect, and speaking several languages was just a small way to further this ideal. It was her plan to learn a new language every year, becoming semi-fluent at the very least. She had considered taking language classes, but the pace was far too slow. On her own she could move at her own lightning fast pace, but in a classroom she would have to waste time waiting on other people. If she had learned anything in college it was that no one could match her level of intelligence.  
  
A year later, however, she was still watching Japanese animation and reading manga. In fact, she had an entire library devoted to the subject. Her room was full of shelves of black-and-white comic books and old-fashioned DVD discs. She hadn't started learning any other languages. In fact, she wasn't really learning anything, other than trivial facts. She was an encyclopedia of seiyuu and she could match up television series' with production companies, directors, and animators with ease. These trivial facts became the focus of her life. In time, they consumed her life. She slept very little, spending much of her time watching anime, reading manga, or in anime-related forums and chat rooms. She read through scripts, trying to piece together puzzles that were unsolvable, and meant to be so. But in her mind she was able to solve these unsolvable riddles, using sparse facts and speculation. For a girl that had until recently possessed such a drive for self-improvement, this was very strange behavior.  
  
For the first time they could remember, Asuka's parents began to truly worry about her.   
  
  
Her father hurriedly gestured as he talked, as if he was in a hurry. For anyone else, it would seem like a very strange thing to do on a Saturday, but it was usual for him. "She started babbling on and on about 'second impact' yesterday, and a conspiracy to cover up a meteor or something."  
  
"Meteor?" asked Kyoko, confused.   
  
"Something she read about in one of her comic books, I assume."  
  
"Well, recently she was explaining some interesting theories about the AT field in relation to the human soul that seemed quite reasonable," Kyoko said in an even voice, not wanting to antagonize the easily angered man.  
  
"Did she tell you that she thinks AT stands for 'absolute terror'? Or about the huge lumbering monsters that generate these "Absolute Terror" fields? Or any of the other nonsensical things she spouts at me?"  
  
"Oh my." Kyoko was overwhelmed by this information, proving that she knew nothing of her daughter's life.  
  
"We need to have a talk with her. This has gone on for far too long. I'm going to try to talk some sense into her this time."   
  
Kyoko nodded. They obviously hadn't spent nearly enough time with their daughter. Asuka had been able to take care of herself since she was five years old, and had always insisted on being left alone. Her parents had obliged her, and it had seemed to work out very well. But leaving her alone all the time had apparently caused her to become alienated from the world. Hardly ever speaking to Asuka, they hadn't even realized it until it was too late how serious her situation was.   
  
But it wasn't entirely their fault, Kyoko told herself. Asuka had always been independent, after all. It had been Asuka that had constantly insisted she needed privacy so that she could study.  
  
The two of them silently agreed on the method of intervention with a simple glance and nod and walked towards their daughter's room, knocking on the door.   
  
"Asuka? We need to talk to you."  
  
No response. It was most likely that she was ignoring them.  
  
"Asuka, we're coming in," said her father gruffly and impatiently.  
  
They cautiously entered her room. She was gone, the window was open, and a note was left on top of her bed.   
  
It read simply:  
  
Gone to fight the angels. I am humanity's only hope.   
Asuka, Pilot Errant  
  
  
  
-  
  
Book One  
  
-  
  
  
**  
_ Asuka's Lamentation on the Over the Rainbow_**   
  
_ You are super-cool  
What awesome stubble you have  
But you won't kiss me...  
  
  
  
_**_ Kaji's Lament_**  
_   
Your purple tresses  
Hang limply over the edge  
Are you regretful?  
  
  
  
_**_ Asuka's First Impression of Shinji_**  
_   
Who is this child?  
Walking, no pride in his step  
Is he different?  
  
  
  
_**_ Kyoko's Delusions in Regard to Asuka_**  
_  
My innocent girl  
Should never grow up  
Children need no tears  
  
But she must be strong  
Weakness is tempered   
Only through living  
  
  
  
_**_ Shinji's Thoughts on Misato_**  
_  
I love Misato  
I clean up her apartment  
My true family.  
  
  
  
__  
_**_ Shinji's Thoughts on Ayanami Rei_**  
_   
She is so quiet  
Never speaking of sadness  
She is just like me_  
  
  
  
_  
_**_ The Ravings of Ayanami Rei_**  
_   
The white moon is lonely  
The black moon hides in safety  
Why am I to choose?_  
  
  
  
**_ Asuka's Praise of Unit-02 _**  
  
_ Backflip! Dodge! Feint! Follow with strikes and kicks!  
Exhibiting a luminous and terrifying presence   
It is quite beautiful, striking, and bold!  
  
And so, limited only by physics,  
(and even those cannot always restrain it's magnificence)  
My unit-two is a sight to behold!  
  
  
  
_**_ Aida Kensuke's Praise of the Over the Rainbow_**  
_   
Beautiful?  
Of course!  
Beauty is not defined by outline  
(this works out well for me)  
The pistons pump! The engines whine!  
And it floats upon the **sea**__!  
Look at all the cannons!  
And those predatory birds  
With their ravenous **machine guns**  
I just don't have the words…  
  
  
  
_** Shinji's Sonnet to Ayanami Rei  
**_   
_I don't understand anything  
And your eyes will betray nothing  
The most misunderstood by far  
You are a real person,  
You are.  
  
  
  
**_ Chairman Kihl's Words on the Lance of Longinus and the Sacrament_**  
  
_ An instrument of humanity  
Bringing an end to all suffering  
Human Instrumentality  
With only one left lingering  
  
With this brilliant sacrament  
And a human's pain, unending  
I hear Ikari-kun's lament,  
Over the great rending!  
  
  
  
_**_ Shinji's Sonnet to Asuka_**  
_   
Who is this?  
_ She knows me well_  
Lips to kiss  
_ She breaks my shell  
_ Eyes like steel  
_ And she's seen hell  
_ Breasts to feel  
_ How far she fell...  
_Is she an angel?  
  
  
__  
_**_ Gendou's Last Thoughts on His Son_**  
_   
My son is the same as myself  
Enshrouded in his pathos  
He rejects the world  
  
In this lonesome room  
My wife stands nearby  
And I drown in my regret  
  
  
__  
_**_ Ayanami Rei's Sonnet to Shinji after the Defeat of Ramiel_**  
_   
Ikari Shinji,  
You care for me?  
What is it that you understand?  
(I saw you digging in the sand)  
Why is it that you care for me?  
(human experience is key)  
And this is completely new  
I just don't know what to do...  
Why are you crying?   
I understand. I smile.  
  
  
**  
** _**_ Asuka's Praise of Shinji's Defeat of Shamshiel_**  
  
_ You're a bundle of fear and hate  
Each word we speak corrupts your mind  
In battle all of this will condensate  
So that you can retaliate in kind.  
  
Then, the moment when least expected,  
The option of "retreat" elected,  
A roaring fury breaks the lull  
Target silent. Fallen angel.  
  
  
  
_**_ The Depressed Ramblings of Misato _**  
_   
__ I am really drunk right now_  
_ (The obligatory leer)  
That guy over there is so like, wow  
I think I'll drink another beer  
  
I'm really a whore  
I'll sleep with anybody  
And what's more  
I'm a friggin' hottie!  
  
Can I have some service here?  
I really need another beer  
How ya like my dress?  
How about my breasts?  
I like guys with real big lips  
And... I kinda... like to eat chips. Fuck.  
  
Everyone knows that sex sells...  
Is there really nothing else...?  
Service! Service!  
  
  
  
_**_ Ayanami Rei's Opinion of Sohryu Asuka Langley_**  
_   
The opposite of me  
She possesses a soul,  
She, with a sense of 'we',  
Has a spirit that is whole.  
  
Obsessed with the result  
And not the process  
She has what I lack,  
I can do what she musn't   
**  
  
  
** __** Asuka's Ravings after the Defeat of Cervihel** _  
_   
A courageous boy, a pathetic toy, a stupid boy  
Who's full of JOY.   
He makes me sick and he's a dick  
He doesn't even care anymore.  
**  
  
  
** _**_ Shinji's Description of Asuka's Battle with Shamshiel and Ramiel_**  
_   
Such a simple thing as jumping rope  
(She has good energy, though)  
She transforms herself into 'Man's Hope'  
(She's attractive too, I know)  
Tearing off the fell beasts limbs  
But that is just a joke  
Her momentary madness dims  
Her sleeping sense awoke  
  
But she is easily distracted,   
Without a thought she gives another phantom a chase...  
And breaks her face  
*sigh*  
  
  
  
__ **Suzuhara Touji's... Poem**_  
_   
I like poetry  
But I really hate haiku  
Fuck this shit. _   
  
  
**Chapter 1: Of Asuka's Delightful Trip to Tokyo, and the Pleasant and Agreeable Events that Follow**  
  
  
_ Three days earlier..._  
  
  
Asuka picked up the phone in one hand as she held a small slip of paper and a pen in the other. She found herself forced to order a ticket to Tokyo-3 by phone. Asuka had wanted to get a soft ticket, but she'd had a little trouble ordering a ticket on-line. Despite an hour-long search, she couldn't find a single website that would sell her a ticket to Tokyo-3. It was as if the place didn't even exist. So she had to resort to making a phone call, the old fashioned way.   
  
"I'd like to purchase a ticket to Tokyo-3." She said firmly, expecting that the man would be hard to deal with. She'd recently had a very rough time dealing with several people who had insisted that Tokyo-3 didn't exist at all.  
  
"Three tickets?" asked the man, confirming her suspicions that he would be a total idiot.  
  
"No, one ticket to Tokyo-THREE."  
  
The man didn't reply. She assumed he was typing in the information, but knew that it shouldn't have taken more than a few seconds.  
  
"Are you typing it in?" she asked suspiciously.  
  
"Do you want one ticket or three ma'am?" he asked, causing her anger to boil over.  
  
"ONE!"   
  
How hard is it to tell one ticket from three? She understood that it must be boring to take phone calls all day, but honestly...  
  
  
_ Present..._  
  
  
"Wait for me Kaji-san," the young girl said breathlessly, apparently talking to herself, "I'm finally coming to Tokyo-3."  
  
A large drop of sweat gathered, unseen, on the back of his head. "Would you like something to drink?"  
  
She noticed him, and nodded. "Green tea. Hot."  
  
He smiled apologetically. "Sorry, we don't have any hot drinks on this flight."  
  
She became visibly outraged. "Gott in Himmel! We can throw a Lance of Longinus to the moon but we can't even heat up some drinks on an airplane?"  
  
Another sweatdrop joined the first, and he slowly walked away.  
  
-  
  
Asuka fumed. Everyone treated her like she was crazy. On top of that, they had given her a ticket to Old Tokyo instead of Tokyo-3. The difficulty in actually getting to Toyko-3 was almost unbelievable. It got her to Japan, at least, but the idea that no one had even heard of Tokyo-3 was just ridiculous.  
  
They had treated her like a criminal, threatening to call security guards. Then, they had threatened to throw her out of the airport, and one man had even made the unbelievable threat of deporting her to Tokyo-3 permanently. People could be so stupid and ignorant. She hadn't been yelling that loud, really. She sighed. _  
  
-A Pilot Errant simply has to tolerate lesser people. -_  
  
-  
  
The plane landed and she stood up, grabbed her bag tightly as she did so. Her bag, which was technically larger than the allowable size for carry-on luggage, contained a sleeping bag, a couple of other things, and three plugsuits. The three plugsuits were of different types and colors, and elaborately constructed. The peerless Kaji had managed to get them for her, matching her specific instructions for their design exactly. Each suit was meant for a different person, though they fit various builds.   
  
The first plugsuit was meant for the First Children, a quiet child with no regard for others. The second was meant for the Second Children, the ultimate pilot. The last was meant for the Third Children, a small and shy boy. Finding them was her first mission in Tokyo-3.   
  
-  
  
Walking out of the airport, Asuka was surprised to see a complete city brimming with people and activity, instead of the half empty ruins she knew Old Tokyo to be. It looked to her as if she had arrived in Tokyo-3. She stared in her ticket in confusion. It still said Tokyo. She shrugged. As long as she was in Tokyo-3 it didn't really matter how she had gotten there.  
  
"Now, to find the Third Children..."  
  
-  
  
Shinji walked down the street in a depressed mood. He considered all of his troubles, one by one. No one ever wanted to be his friend. All they ever did was abandon him, or ignore him. Touji and Kensuke only talked to him at school. He hadn't seen Misato in a long time, and she only came over because it was her duty to watch after him. His father, when he was around, hardly even talked to him.   
  
He was officially feeling sorry for himself.  
  
_-Help me. Don't leave me alone. Don't forsake me. Don't kill-_  
  
"Hey." A voice interrupted his depressed thoughts.  
  
"W-what?" A pretty girl was blocking his path, somewhat frightening in her intensity. He edged backward almost imperceptibly. "Yes?"  
  
"You look like a guy that had lots of repressed anger and an inferiority complex. You want to be the Third Children?" She spoke with a brash tone, and never took her eyes off of him. It made him slightly uncomfortable. Still, she had an undeniable charisma. She was also a very attractive foreigner with an impressive figure.   
  
Despite his immediate attraction to her, he had a feeling this was a dangerous girl to be around. She seemed mildly threatening, standing there with her hands on her hips, looking at him expectantly. He realized she was waiting for a response, so he said the first thing that came to mind.   
  
"Huh?"   
  
"Third children. Pilot of the Unit-01. Adventure. Saving the world. Humanity would depend on you. Et cetera."  
  
Shinji blinked. She was making fun of him. She had to be. She had obviously assumed he was some kind of otaku freak.   
  
"Please leave me alone." _-Don't leave me alone.-_   
  
"Really? You sure? This is a big opportunity, and there's a lot at stake. The whole world."   
  
"Just do it without me, okay?"_ -Don't abandon me.-_   
  
She sighed unhappily. "So you're just saying no? You don't even want to know what it's all about?"  
  
Seeing her expression and realizing that she was actually serious, he wanted to say yes. The offer was strange, and he didn't really understand what she was talking about, but it sounded vaguely exciting. What she was offering was ludicrous, but there was something undeniably genuine in her tone. But he couldn't just accept such an absurd offer...   
  
Asuka was disappointed. The scrawny boy, who obviously had tons of pent up rage, was obviously the Third Children. Without him, things would be more difficult, perhaps even impossible.   
  
But there was no way to force him to be be a pilot.   
  
She shrugged, "Okay, if that's what you want, fine. But you do realize that I'll have to kill you if you refuse, right?"   
  
His response was immediate. "Don't kill me. I'll give it a shot, whatever it is."   
  
She clasped her hands together with a clapping sound, "Okay then. First of all, how about I tell you the truth about Second Impact?"  
  
"Second Impact?"   
  
She nodded. "What they told you in school isn't the truth."  
  
"What do you mean?" _-What the hell is 'Second Impact'?-_  
  
She took a deep breath, and started, "The last angel attack was 17 years ago. They covered it up by saying it was a meteorite. Another one was supposed to happen about two years ago, but it never happened. However, it could happen any time. I think the attacks need to be initiated somehow. Because of this, we have to be on guard constantly. You never know when an angel might attack."  
  
He repressed the urge to laugh at the story, not wanting to offend her. Instead, he attempted to take her seriously, in a misguided attempt at politeness. "An angel? Like a messenger from God?"  
  
She nodded. "Yeah. God can be a little weird sometimes."  
  
"Oh." He wasn't sure how to respond to that. She was clearly an insane religious nut.  
  
She smiled sympathetically. "We just kill them. Don't worry about the morals for now. There's a lot more information, but you don't really need to know as of this moment."  
  
"What about school?" he asked, concerned that she might not have considered it, "That's where I was going when you stopped me."  
  
She nodded. "Education is important. Fortunately, I already have mine. We can concentrate on yours."  
  
"You already have yours?" he asked, skeptical.  
  
"Yes. I graduated from a university in Germany."  
  
He didn't really believe her at first, until she showed him her credentials.   
  
"Wow," he said, very impressed. She became even more of a mystery. Apparently, she was smart enough to get a college degree at her young age, but she couldn't even distinguish fantasy from reality.  
  
"Pretty impressive huh? Now, I'll have to go to school with you. It wouldn't be safe for us to be separated for long periods of time. Understand?"   
  
"Oh. Okay. Sure."   
  
Now she was starting to weird him out. He couldn't deny that the idea of her hanging out with him constantly was pretty attractive though. And also frightening. Definitely frightening. What if she did weird things in class? What if she alienated him from the few friends he had? What if she was a stalker?   
  
-  
  
Asuka walked in and, as Shinji took his seat, wrote her name on the chalkboard as if she were a teacher herself, followed by the customary 'Pilot Errant'. Frowning, she erased the title, feeling no need to make it common knowledge.  
  
She turned to the class. "My name is Asuka Langley Sohryu. Nice to meet all of you!"   
  
"Who are you?" asked the teacher, a little confused.  
  
She blinked, turned toward the teacher, and pointed at the board. She stated the obvious, "I just wrote my name on the board."  
  
"Are you a new student?"  
  
"Yeah, I transferred here from Germany." She gave the teacher her best 'I'm-well-behaved-and-charming' smile.   
  
He shrugged. "There must have been an error somewhere. Very well, take a seat. I'll take care of it." She knew that in his mind, it wasn't possible that a student would voluntarily attend a class that they weren't required to attend, and this possibility would never come up in the teacher's mind. She was sure that he would let her stay.   
  
Asuka walked over to one of the desks that was next to Shinji's. There was currently a girl sitting there. Asuka stood there silently. It was necessary that she sit next to Shinji, as they were both pilots, and he was surrounded by occupied seats. A hush fell over the room as the eyes of the two girl met.  
  
"Just sit down!" whispered the Class Representative from another seat, annoyed.  
  
There was complete silence for nearly an entire minute, neither of them saying anything. Asuka, however, felt a slight thrill as she inspected the blue haired girl who held her gaze with two emotionless red eyes.   
  
_-This is the First Children!-_  
  
"You have to sit down!" hissed the class representative, furious. Asuka ignored her.  
  
Asuka smiled at the girl, and walked over to another desk that was adjacent to Shinji's, letting her keep her seat.   
  
"SIT DOWN!" roared the class representative.  
  
The teacher cleared his throat, finally fed up with the interruption. "Excuse me miss. Class cannot start until all students are seated."  
  
"Oh, sorry!" She physically removed the boy from the seat and pointed him in the direction of an empty one. He had been asleep and so followed her orders without question, shambling over to the empty desk she had indicated.  
  
"KIRITSU! REI! CHAKUSEKI!" shouted the Class Representative, sounding as if she was letting out quite a lot of excess rage.   
  
Asuka paid very little attention to the class, instead watching the blue haired girl as she sat through the class. She didn't seem to move very often. She didn't shift in her seat or glance around the classroom like the rest of the students. She didn't speak once. There was no doubt.   
  
She was the First Children.  
  
-  
  
"Hey you. You want to be a Pilot?" asked the new gaijin student, who blocked her path.  
  
"Why," asked Rei, not bothering to change the intonation to make the word sound like a question.  
  
"We need one more person. Humanity is at stake."   
  
The girl was persistent, annoying. Still, her words were interesting.  
  
_-Humanity?- _  
  
From her experience, it was likely that the girl was trying to pick on her and make her look stupid. In contrast to this, the gaijin's tone was earnest. There was no hint of mockery.   
  
She responded to the proposal, her interest raised. "Why are you asking me?"   
  
"You've got more guts then anyone I've ever met!" the girl proclaimed.  
  
_-A rare compliment. However.-_  
  
"You do not know me."  
  
It was a compliment that was based on nothing. Meaningless.  
  
"You held your own against me in a staring contest. That makes you more than qualified to be a pilot."   
  
_ -That was a test?- _   
  
A lie. The staring had meant nothing. Rei met the girls eyes again, and stared into her eyes coldly for a long moment.   
  
The girl met her stare, a contemptuous smile on her face.   
  
Seeing that smile, which seemed to say, "I am infinitely better than you," Rei realized something.  
  
The girl was not just offering something to her. The smug look on her face did not contain generosity. She wasn't trying to make a kind offer.  
_  
-She is challenging me.-_  
  
Rei spoke above a whisper, "What will I pilot?"   
  
  
  
**Chapter Two: In Which Asuka is Not Selected as a Pilot **  
  
  
Shinji watched with a mixture of confusion and slight sadness as Asuka offered Ayanami the position of pilot. The fact that Asuka was offering the position to Rei, who was not a popular girl by any means, seemed to hint that she was selecting only losers and loners as pilots. This was a blow to Shinji's ego, which had been inflated, just slightly, that morning. He eavesdropped on the conversation, seeing that Rei said no more than five or six words throughout the conversation, as was normal for her, but unable to hear her words. She always spoke in a barely audible whisper that couldn't be heard except by someone standing close to her. Her voice was only audible to him for one sentence, in which she agreed to Asuka's proposal.   
  
Watching the strange event, he sincerely hoped Asuka wouldn't try to recruit his whole class. In addition to the fact that he had been proud that Asuka had specifically chosen him out of the crowds of people walking the streets of Tokyo, he didn't want her insanity to become common knowledge among his classmates.  
  
_-But what, exactly, does she expect me to do?-_   
  
Seeing that she was walking away from Ayanami, he approached her, hoping for a more thorough explanation of the unusual things she had been talking about. "Asuka..." he said hesitantly.  
  
She glanced in his direction. "Yes, Third? What do you want?"  
  
He was a little bit unnerved, though she wasn't antagonizing him in any way. He didn't often feel compelled to approach other people, and doing so made him feel slightly nervous. He took a deep breath.   
  
"You keep on saying 'pilot'. What is it that we are supposed to be piloting, anyway?"  
  
She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head upwards in a haughty manner before loudly stating, "Eva, of course! You have Evangelion Unit-01 and I have Unit-02. The new girl has Unit-00, since she's the First."  
  
Shinji was confused by the entire sentence, in which all the numbers seemed to be in reverse order of sensibility, but he decided to simply ask about the part that confused him the most.   
  
"What is an 'Eva'?"  
  
She turned towards him and started speaking in a knowledgeable tone, "We call them androids, but they're technically cyborgs. Clones of angels fitted up with armor and restrai... well, armor anyway. No need to go into too many details. They don't have any will of their own most of the time. That's why we pilot them."  
  
Cyborgs? With pilots? It was a little hard to believe, even for a fantasy. "Uhh... where are these 'cyborgs'?"  
  
"They keep them way underground. When an angel attacks, we'll have to defeat it. But there will be all kinds of stuff leading up to the angel attacks. Shadowy background stuff."  
  
Shinji gave her a skeptical look. "What kind of 'background stuff'?"   
  
"How should I know!? It's in the background, stupid." .  
  
He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.   
  
"Oh. So we just wait?"  
  
She shook her head emphatically. "No no no. We can't trust anybody. Especially not Nerv, and ESPECIALLY not Seele. We can't just wait around while they do things in the background. That's how things get screwed up."  
  
"Seele? Nerv?"  
  
"Yes, Nerv is the organization that your dad is in charge of."  
  
"My dad is a business executive," he corrected her.   
  
She didn't seem to hear him. "Your dad is such a jerk, treating you like some kind of possession that he has a use for." She paused thoughtfully, then continued, "If he had raised you right you wouldn't have so much pent-up rage and a need to prove yourself to him though, so I guess it's kind of necessary."  
  
Now, Shinji's father wasn't exactly perfect but Shinji was sure he wasn't the leader of some shadowy organization bent on... whatever it was she seemed to think they were bent on. His father, though silently frightening at times, seemed very normal to Shinji. The idea that he was an evil villain was ridiculous, and Shinji guessed that Asuka knew nothing about his father. In spite of this, she had apparently assigned him a role in her fantasy world without ever having met him.   
  
"Well, if we aren't going to just wait around, what are we going to do?" Shinji asked.  
  
"We have to make sure that no spies infiltrate Nerv. We also have to make sure that your dad's plan doesn't work," she said, starting to walk towards the classroom. She looked over her shoulder and gestured for him to follow her.  
  
"What plan is that?" he asked, hurrying to catch up.  
  
"I can't tell you here. Someone could be listening. It's really complicated and diabolical. I'll tell you what, you go grab First and tell her to meet us at your place. Oh, by the way, I'm coming to live with you."  
  
He was shocked, to say the least, and he came to a complete stop. "What!?"   
  
She turned around, sighed, and started to repeat her last sentence, "Go grab First and-"  
  
Shinji interrupted her, yelling in a whining voice, "I understand that! You can't live with me! My dad would kill me if I just brought a girl home!"  
  
She shrugged. "What if I tell him my mom committed suicide and my father married someone that hates me? You Japanese are hospitable about stuff like that right?"  
  
Her plan didn't seem exactly foolproof, especially considering her low opinion of Shinji's father. Shinji was skeptical. "I don't think that will work. He isn't hospitable at all."  
  
She nodded, as if this was already obvious to her, "Yes, but if he doesn't let me I won't have any place to stay. He needs me to kill the angel, so he'll agree."  
  
Shinji sighed. It was becoming more obvious with each passing minute that she was completely nuts. She seemed to have a new fantastic notion every minute, and seemed inclined on sharing every one with anyone who would listen. However, what she had said about her parents was halfway sensible, and her wondered if it was true. If it was, he had something in common with her. Shinji had lost his own mother when he was young.  
  
He didn't like to bring up the subject of mothers, and especially didn't like to talk about his own, but curiosity overcame him. "Did all that stuff with your parents really happen to you?" he asked hesitantly.   
  
"My mother you mean? Yes, but I don't like to talk about it," she said, seeming almost casual.  
  
It was strange that she had mentioned her mother's death so casually. She spoke about something so traumatic as if it wasn't really important to her. As if her mother's death was just an event in her life. He didn't inquire further, he had a feeling he didn't want to know anything else about her mother. There was probably a horrible and gruesome story behind her death, one that Asuka wished to avoid telling with her uncaring attitude. Or perhaps she was so casual about it because she had repressed her misery deep inside, using a cavalier attitude to mask it.  
  
-  
  
"I can't believe you're taking time off of work for this," Kyoko said to her husband, as they boarded the plane, carrying very little baggage. They felt it necessary to travel light, knowing only that Asuka was somewhere in Tokyo.  
  
His voice was surly, as he had just gotten off work an hour before. "What, you think I'm a complete bastard or something? This is the first serious problem we've had with Asuka." Kyoko wasn't sure she agreed with his statement, but she didn't argue with it. "Besides, I have to use my sick days some time or else I'll just lose them."  
  
That was certainly true. Neither of them would ever take a sick day for something as pitiful as an actual illness. Contributing to the spreading of a flu epidemic was far better than admitting to one's own weakness. That was an attitude that Asuka seemed to share. She had never stayed home sick in her life.  
  
Kyoko watched her feet as they walked, hope starting to drain from her. He husband noticed this and gave her a reproachful look that she didn't see (she was looking at her feet, remember). "Perk up a bit. We'll find the girl, but we have to stay alert."   
  
She shook her head sadly. "What are you saying? Find the girl? Stay alert? Are we looking for our daughter or a criminal?"  
  
"By now, probably both," he noted grimly.  
  
-  
  
Gendou Ikari stared, fascinated, at the magnificent and confounding foreigner. His expression remained neutral, but he was filled with curiosity. "You want to live here?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Her voice was very cold. It was as if she knew and respected him, but disliked him greatly. In fact, she acted just like his secretary.   
  
"Why?" he said, straightforward and impolite. In his experience, that was the best way to deal with foreigners, and the way he dealt with most people anyway.  
  
"I have no where else to go, sir. My mother committed suicide after being driven insane during the testing phase of the Unit-02, which you are no doubt familiar with, and my father remarried. The woman hates me. She thinks I'm too mature for my age and said she didn't want to be my mother anymore. Besides that, they have to stay in Germany and I am needed here, in Tokyo-3. All of which you already know, of course."  
  
Gendou pondered this for a moment, his expression stern and unchanging, his hands folded under his nose. Only his shaded eyes could be seen.   
  
His son leaned in closer and whispered, _"She's completely crazy."_  
  
"Hmm."   
  
"Will you let me stay here, sir?" she asked again, coldly.  
  
"You could stay with the teacher," suggested Shinji.  
  
Gendou shook his head. "That is a ridiculous suggestion, Shinji. She can stay here."  
  
"Thank you, sir." Asuka bowed stiffly, and went outside to retrieve her single bag of luggage.   
  
-  
  
Asuka sighed deeply. That little display of weakness hadn't been easy. She didn't like to speak of her mother's suicide, especially in a plea for sympathy. There was no other way though. That was simply the way it was done. She picked up her travel bag, which contained nothing but the three plug suits and a sleeping bag, and walked back inside. She was halfway through the living room when Gendou's voice stopped her in her tracks.  
  
"There is no spare room."  
  
She blinked, her expression confused. "Then where do I...?"  
  
"You will stay in Shinji's room."  
  
She paled imperceptibly. She would have refused immediately if the situation were less critical, but she felt she had no choice but to accept. Still, it wasn't appropriate at all.   
  
-  
  
Gendou smiled in satisfaction, watching as the beautiful girl entered his son's room. All was going according to plan. It was a hasty plan, constructed in a single moment, but it was still a good plan. It was a chance for redemption.  
  
He had not have been there for Yui when she needed him. He had not have been there for Shinji as a father. He knew that he would never be there for Shinji as a father. But, perhaps, this small peace offering would be a small step towards the redemption he sought. It was necessary to distance himself from his son, yes, just as it was necessary to distance himself from all people. However, that didn't mean he couldn't force other people to move closer to his son. Then something struck him. _  
  
-I wonder if that girl is homicidal?-   
  
_ He shrugged. He was sure that Shinji would agree that it was worth the risk.  
  
-  
  
"Asuka, why're you bringing your stuff in here?" Shinji asked in confusion as he sat up in his bed.  
  
She grumbled, "Commander Ikari said that I had to stay in here."  
  
"So where am I going to sleep?" Shinji said, irritated, "We don't have a spare room."  
  
She didn't hesitate a moment to answer. The only thing that bothered her was the inconvenience, and the improperness of the whole thing, so there was no reason to be embarrassed. She didn't think he would actually try anything untoward. "You're going to be sleeping here too. Don't get any ideas though, we're co-workers."  
  
Asuka laid her sleeping bag out on the ground, and took out one of the three plugsuits, handing one to Shinji. "Make sure this fits okay. Just to be safe, you know?"  
  
Shinji examined the strange costume. It looked very realistic somehow. It was something a cosplayer might wear, certainly, but it didn't seem too ridiculous to be a military uniform. "Where did you get this?"  
  
"Kaji. He has connections."  
  
"Oh." He had no idea who Kaji was, but her voice made him believe that it should be obvious to him already.  
  
-  
_  
_ _ "Kaji-san!" she hugged him tightly. It had been weeks since she'd seen him. " I need you to do something for me."  
  
He smiled at her. "What do you want?" he asked, his tone making it obvious that he would refuse any outrageous requests.  
  
She handed him the complex designs she had drawn out. "I need to have these made. Do you know anyplace I could go?"  
  
He examined the drawings she had given him, and raised his eyebrows at her. "What do you need these for Asuka?" They seemed to be designed to be as airtight as possible and, therefore, very revealing. "I think you're a little young for this sort of thing."  
  
"Kajiiii! It's just for cosplay!"_   
  
-  
  
Asuka stood up and took a brief look around.  
"Is your room secure, third?"  
  
"I... guess so," he said, not sure exactly what she meant.  
  
"Okay, I guess I can explain this to you in a little more detail."  
  
She then explained the entire false situation in detail, sometimes in too much detail. She seemed to have worked out every minor fact and occurrence. If it wasn't so ridiculous, he could almost believe that the "Eva" units that she talked about actually existed. She talked for some time, and Shinji had to resist the urge to take notes as she lectured.  
  
"Understand?"  
  
Shinji thought for a moment, scratching at the uncomfortable plugsuit. "Why doesn't 'Seele' just let the angels win if they want 'Third Impact'?"  
  
She answered immediately. "It might have something to do with the angels' souls returning to Adam or Lilith after they die."  
  
"They don't go to the White Moon?"  
  
"Maybe, maybe not. I think that the White Moon is just where they come from in the first place. In any case, Seele doesn't want to initiate Third Impact until the seventeenth angel."  
  
"All right, I guess I understand. How do we know where Nerv is, though?"  
  
"Your father is the Commander. We can follow him," she said.  
  
"Hold on a second. How can you be a pilot if my father's 'the Commander'? He doesn't even know you. I'm sure he couldn't have selected you for anything."   
  
He regretted his words several seconds before he'd finished speaking them. He was still a little flabbergasted by her story, and the comment ended up sounding a lot more insulting than he'd consciously intended.   
  
She crossed her arms and glared at him. "So suddenly you know everything about how this works, huh? I'll have you know that I'll be selected as a pilot this very night. No one else would do as the Second Children, that's one thing I'm completely sure of. He has no choice."   
  
Shinji did his best to hide his skepticism, knowing it would only make her angry. He had listened attentively as she explained all of the imaginary facts and events to him, and hadn't given a single sign that he disbelieved her. "So you're just going to ask him?"  
  
She nodded. "He'll probably ask me to do prove I can do it. Some kind of multiple choice test or physical examination or something. And a synch test, naturally."  
  
"Multiple choice test?"   
  
"Just some fake thing. The Marduk institute doesn't exist but they have to pretend it does. So I assume there'll be some kind of test."  
  
"Marduk Institute?"  
  
She sighed deeply. "Take notes next time, okay?"   
  
-  
  
Asuka approached the man with a calm confidence. It wasn't a matter of whether he accepted her proposal or not. That was a given. No one in their right mind would reject Asuka Langley Sohryu as a pilot.  
  
"Sir."  
  
Gendou looked up from his book, something in a language Asuka didn't recognize. "What."   
  
Asuka held back a shudder, disgusted and horrified by the man, who seemed to be completely abominable in every way. "I am the perfect candidate for pilot. Any tests you can do will support this, I'm sure. I request that you assign me to Eva Unit-02 in accordance with whatever regulation is required."  
  
Gendou began reading again, and responded a moment later, not pausing to look up as he did so. "No." His voice wasn't loud, or stern, but somehow his monotone voice made it obvious that there was no room for negotiation.  
  
Asuka blinked in disbelief, her mouth hanging open as she watched him continue to ignore her. Then, chin tilted downwards as if in deep thought, she walked back towards Shinji's room. She entered his room and sat on his bed, completely ignoring his presence. The Commander had denied her request without even considering it. Without even a synch test, and without any sort of test.   
  
_ -Why?-_  
  
Could it be that she wasn't worthy of being a pilot? Could he tell that much just by looking at her? The idea was ridiculous. She was the ideal, the model for other pilots to strive towards. If she wasn't fit to be a pilot, no one was. Absolutely no one.  
  
-  
  
_ -"Asuka? What are you doing? It's one in the morning."  
  
Asuka didn't turn to look at her mother as she replied in a monotone, "What do you think." She was studying, of course.  
  
"You have to sleep Asuka."  
_   
_Asuka didn't respond. Her mother sighed and went back to bed, thinking it would only make things worse if she tried to force her daughter to do as she said. To her it seemed that, since Asuka had always thrived on competition, it was useless to argue with her.  
  
Asuka shook her head, and snorted. "You shouldn't even try to pretend that you care about me."   
  
Her mother didn't hear her, having already left.-  
_  
-  
  
The reason for his rejection struck her suddenly. It was so obvious. He had rejected her because he didn't plan on calling her in until she was actually needed. They didn't plan on calling Shinji in until the last moment, so it seemed reasonable that they might intend to do the same with her. He had refused her request so easily because he knew it would be pointless to assign her as a pilot. The first battle would be won _because_ of a lack of training, not in spite it.   
  
In this way Asuka convinced herself that she was worthy of being a Pilot .   
  
End Chapter Two   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Two

**Chapter Three: Of Asuka and Shinji's First Adventurous Episode**  
  
Shinji's father drove as the Shinji and Asuka sat in the back seat of his Renault Alpine. With any other father and son, the scene would have seemed normal. With Shinji and his father, however, Asuka felt the whole thing seemed a bit freakish.   
  
_That morning..._  
  
  
"You want to see my work?" He sounded almost surprised. It was not often that Shinji made a request of his father, so this reaction was to be expected. Shinji, having been reduced to mumbles, seemed fairly incapable of responding coherently. Asuka responded in his place to save time.   
  
"Yes, sir. It's a common thing to do."  
  
"I realize that, but I should warn you that my job is very boring," he said, his tone of voice making the comment sound almost like a threat.  
  
_-I'm sure it's really boring old man. You want to extract your wife's soul, with no regard for the rest of humanity, under the facade of saving the world. That sounds like your average boring job.-   
_  
  
_ Present...  
  
_  
Outwardly, Asuka maintained an emotionless expression, trying to gauge Gendou's every move. It was a little strange to see him driving. She had always assumed that someone else would drive him wherever he needed to go. Driving to work seemed too... normal.   
  
It was also very unnerving to drive with him. Not that he was a bad driver, but she half expected him to deliberately run over a kitten or something. Fortunately, he didn't do anything of the kind.  
  
  
He escorted the two of them through the building to his office, walking quickly, and said, "I have a meeting to go to, so I'm afraid you two will have to stay with my secretary, Ms. Seikou, for the time being."  
  
"Oh, that'll be fine, sir!" said Asuka in a voice that was so chipper that it was almost insulting.  
  
Shinji looked back and forth between the two nervously as Gendou stood there, looking at Asuka with his usual unreadable expression. After a moment of silence passed, Asuka wearing a grin that was countered by his stern expression, he turned and left the room.  
  
The secretary smiled at them, "Are you two da-"  
  
"We have to go to the bathroom, ma'am" interrupted Asuka. "It's urgent."  
  
"Both of you?" asked the secretary suspiciously, giving Asuka a knowing smile.  
  
Asuka nodded. "Yeah." She leaned in closer and whispered, "It's her period." She made a head movement to indicate Shinji, who was oblivious.   
  
"Oh," said the woman, confused and embarrassed at the same time. "I thought the Commander had a son."  
  
Asuka nodded sympathetically. "A lot of people think that. It's a common mistake."  
  
"He told me I was going to be looking after 'his son' just a moment ago," she said, starting to become suspicious of Asuka's motives.   
  
"He's a stubborn man. When he doesn't get his way..." Asuka trailed off, assuming that this woman, being the man's secretary, could easily imagine him raising his daughter as a boy out of spite.   
  
"Oh my," she said, a little shocked, "Well, don't be gone too long."  
  
"Let's go, Shinko," said Asuka, grabbing Shinji's arm as she walked towards a nearby bathroom.  
  
-   
  
The two of them silently followed Shinji's father, who seemed to continually look straight ahead as he walked, making him easy to follow.  
  
"Couldn't you have thought of something less embarrassing?" complained Shinji.  
  
"It worked, didn't it? It's not like I made you wear a dress or anything."  
  
"My father probably would have been suspicious if you'd done that," Shinji pointed out.  
  
Asuka shook her head firmly. "He probably would have said something like, 'Oh, that explains everything.'" With that, She started to walk more quickly, leaving him behind.   
  
Shinji sighed noiselessly. She obviously had him outwitted. There was no point in trying to argue with her about anything.  
  
"Where are we going?" he asked, quickly catching up to her.  
  
"To listen in on the meeting, of course. You remember why we're here, right?"  
  
-  
  
Misato tried not to fall asleep as Mr. Fuyutsuki read off figures from the graph he had created. He acted as if people should find economics interesting.   
  
"And so, as you can plainly see, we're floundering." She didn't need a bunch of graphs to tell her that. Everyone knew the studio was in trouble. And it seemed to be obvious to everyone but the old men that their time had simply passed. No amount of meetings could change the fact that no one wanted what they were making. Why had they called her in to this meeting in the first place? She didn't mind, she was getting paid, but her presence seemed a little strange at a financial meeting. She had no say whatsoever at the financial stage.   
  
"And that is why we need something original. Something that will put us above the mediocrity that has become the norm for this studio."  
  
Easier said than done. Everyone knew that the way to make money was to go with safe productions. Risky ventures could pay off big time, but they usually didn't. Even productions of the highest quality could fail. Viewers could be very unpredictable in the planning room.   
  
"You are probably all thinking that this is foolish, and the opposite of the way things really are. Let me remind you that we are not the only studio that is having trouble. So-called 'safe' projects aren't all that safe anymore. Animation in general is on the decline."   
  
And it is at this point that the two children crept up to the door and started listening in on the fateful meeting. Since the door was open slightly, both of them could hear what was being said without being seen.  
  
"I disagree. It is just that sort of risk that could be the final nail in the coffin," said one of the faceless executives. "We may be floundering, but we remain afloat. It is only a matter of time before we recover, along with the industry."  
  
"It is not necessary for us to make an all or nothing venture," said Fuyutsuki, "The risk would not be overwhelming. We could recover. If we do not try, we will almost certainly go down with the rest. I think we all know that there is little chance of recovery at this point."  
  
In Asuka's mind it seemed as if they were discussing the fate of the world, and she forced the conversation to fit into her story line. _They would initiate Third Impact early? Why? This is completely different from what I know.-_  
  
"But this could spell the end of everything we have worked to achieve!"  
  
Ikari spoke. "Remember that we all share the same objective. We are not enemies. We will do what is required."  
  
_ -What is this 'objective'? He can only mean Third Impact.-_  
  
"Sir, I object to this strongly! It seems as if you are letting your personal feelings get in the way. In the end, all that matters is that we all profit."  
  
"All that matters is the sale, eh?" said Fuyutsuki glibly.  
  
_ -Seele! These men are part of Seele. Just as I thought. Which one is the chairman?-_  
  
"No. There are other ideals to uphold. Ideals that this studio was founded on."  
  
_-That must be him. He sounds old enough. But, what studio? Is he talking about Essenes? That doesn't make any sense...- _  
  
Ikari spoke again. "That is true. But we must not become mindless fanatics. We can uphold the ideals of the studio and still maintain our existence. That is a necessity."  
  
_-They are planning to survive somehow. They've changed the scenario entirely.-_  
  
"We should discuss this again later, Ikari-kun. In the meantime, we will keep out eyes open. As always."  
  
Shinji and Asuka hurried back as the meeting adjourned. Asuka's head spun as she considered everything that she had heard. _-This is worse than I thought. They're actually planning on initiating Third Impact early! They have all the components they need... except the angels. Maybe the angels don't have to be defeated in order to initiate their version of Third Impact after all.-_  
  
"Asuka?"  
  
"What?" she replied tersely, not looking back.  
  
"Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned by her strange behavior.  
  
"Weren't you paying attention!? What do you think they were talking about?"  
  
"Well, I'm not sure, but it sounded like they were discussing upcoming projects."  
  
"They were talking about _Third Impact _ you idiot!" she hissed, "We're all gonna die if I can't think of a way to stop it."  
  
"Third Impact? Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes I'm sure, now hurry up. If they find out we were listening in we're both dead. They don't even need us anymore."  
  
The two of them hurried back to the office, with Shinji trailing a very upset Asuka.  
  
-  
_  
-"What are you doing Asuka?"   
  
It was the first time she had heard his voice in three weeks.  
  
"What does it look like?" she said, too tired to sound annoyed.  
  
"It looks like you're reading the same page over and over again. You won't learn anything if you don't pay attention to what you're reading."  
  
Of course. He wouldn't waste his time talking to her unless he had something critical to say. Spending all of her 'free time' studying wasn't good enough for him, apparently. She had to do it **his way** if she wanted his approval.   
  
"Maybe I was reviewing it."  
  
"Review?" he said, pretending to laugh, "You don't know the meaning of the word."  
  
"That's because I never forget anything," she snarled.-_  
  
-  
  
"You two certainly were gone for a long time. Are you feeling all right Shinko? A little heavy this month?"  
  
"Yes ma'am," Shinji said meekly, after Asuka elbowed him.  
  
-  
  
"You Japanese people are a little rude."  
  
Kyoko scowled at her husband. "Do you think you could say that a little louder?"   
  
The two of them had been showing pictures of their daughter to people on the street, hoping that one of them might have seen a red-haired girl.   
  
"It's not like we're doing something improper. Why do people keep giving us strange looks?"  
  
"They probably think we should go to the police," said Kyoko wearily.  
  
-  
  
"Captain Katsuragi." His voice always made her shudder inside. She'd immediately disliked him from the moment she met him.   
  
"Yes, Ikari-san?"  
  
"You are probably wondering why I invited you to this meeting on such short notice," he said, his voice conveying the complete and utter certainty that he knew this to be the truth.   
  
_ -Jesus Christ.-_  
  
"It did cross my mind."  
  
"I thought you might have some input. You've worked with us quite a bit in the past. There is another reason though." He paused. "Usually when I go on business trips these days, I leave my son alone. He is old enough, after all. This time however..."  
  
"You want me to baby-sit for you again?" she asked, pleasantly surprised.  
  
"No. Shinji is too old for that. There is a girl rooming with him. I want you to be there to ensure that nothing... happens."  
  
Misato quickly overcame her shock. "Why are you asking me? Surely there's someone better suited for that sort of thing." Halting sexual activities between young people wasn't exactly something she would consider herself skilled at. She'd always encouraged Shinji to try and flirt with girls, and wouldn't consider it a great tragedy if he actually managed to lose his virginity.  
  
"I have no friends, Captain. I would ask Dr. Akagi, but she is busy enough with her own work. I certainly could not ask Vice President Fuyutsuki."  
  
"Well, I'll do it of course," she said, "I've got nothing better to do, but it almost seems like a waste of time. The only real way to prevent anything from happening is to put them in separate rooms."  
  
"You misunderstand me. I do not wish the girl to become pregnant, Captain. Also, I do not want her to injure my son. Any other outcome is acceptable."  
  
"I... see."   
  
That was a bit more realistic. It was definitely a possible task. But the way he had said it... it was as if Shinji as a person didn't matter to him.   
  
Misato had always been unnerved by the man's cold attitude. And his demeanor. It was just creepy. She'd always had the vague impression that he was in phase one of a plot for world domination.   
  
And his tendency to always call her "Captain" as if he were her superior officer was just annoying.   
  
  
  
**Chapter Four: In Which Rei Apparently Accepts Asuka's Account of Things**  
  
  
Asuka spoke calmly to Shinji, despite the gravity of the situation. Shinji seemed to be unaware or uncaring of the importance of what they had heard that afternoon. "Shinji, I need you to do something important for me quickly. We need to get First in here so that we can figure this out."  
  
Shinji seemed puzzled. "Ayanami? What for?"  
  
Asuka held her anger in check, despite the fact that Shinji didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to perform the important task that he'd been given. She promised herself that she would yell at him later at a more opportune time. "She's a pilot. She needs to be here for the briefing."  
  
"Briefing?" he asked, not sure what she was intending. "Does that mean you have a plan to stop them? I thought you said that Seele was 'an immensely powerful and unstoppable organization'."  
  
She closed her eyes and sighed shortly. "That's what makes this so important. We have to find a way to stop an unstoppable organization."  
  
"How can we do it, though?" Shinji posed the question seriously, forgetting at that moment that none of the things they were talking about existed in reality.   
  
"We have to remove the necessary elements. Lilith or Adam, and the Lance of Longinus. And that still leaves the Mass Production series."   
  
Shinji frowned thoughtfully. "That sounds pretty impossible."  
  
Asuka stood up straight and put her hands on his shoulders, looking into his eyes as she attempted to bolster his resolve.   
  
"Yeah, it does sound impossible. But I'm not giving up. Are you?"  
  
His voice didn't have the enthusiasm she had been hoping for. "Uh, no?"  
  
Her temper finally broke and she started shoving him towards the door, her face furious. "Don't say it like a question, baka! Now, go get Ayanami!"  
  
"Okay, okay. I even know where she lives. I'll be back in a little while."   
  
Shinji took the final step out the door, leaving Asuka alone.  
  
Asuka collapsed onto his bed, staring at the ceiling as she considered what she had heard. Seele. Third Impact. She shuddered as she thought of the possible outcomes. Then she smiled slightly as she considered the fact that she was the only thing that stood between Seele and the extinction of the human race.   
  
And she would win, somehow.   
  
_-That's just how it works. There are no bad endings, just confusing ones.-_  
  
-  
  
Shinji knocked on the door, starting to feel very nervous. Ayanami was an attractive female, after all. One whom he had, in a way, actually kind of made an effort to try to court, sort of. A moment later, the girl opened the door.  
  
"What."   
  
As always, he was a little put off by her bluntness.  
  
Shinji smiled weakly, making him feel like a grinning idiot in front of her, the unsmiling one. "Asuka, she sent me over here. She wants to talk about some secret stuff."  
  
She immediately opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind her. She was apparently ready to leave right away, without question. He should have expected this, actually, but it surprised him. However, it would have surprised him more if she had gone in to grab a purse or change clothes. Because of this, nearly everything that Rei did seemed strange.   
  
As they walked Shinji tried to start a conversation, something rare for him. It was even more rare to find someone that spoke less than him, however, and the silence wanted breaking.  
  
"What do you think of Asuka?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Asuka is... energetic," she whispered in her monotone. At first he had thought her voice cruel and uncaring. Later, he had decided that her voice was simply empty of emotions. Speaking with her now, he realized that he'd been wrong on both counts. There was real emotion in her voice, albeit strongly muted.   
  
They continued walking and Shinji glanced at her expressionless face.  
  
_-If I didn't know that she was always like this, I'd think that she hated me.-_  
  
Shinji paused before speaking again, "Why did you agree to be a 'pilot'?"  
  
She replied immediately, "I do not want humanity to be destroyed."  
  
Shinji chuckled, stupidly thinking that she was making a joke. Rei glared at him, her eyes opened a bit wider and her face slightly drawn in anger.   
  
"It is not funny," she said coldly.  
  
He immediately stopped laughing, and didn't meet her eyes. "S-Sorry."  
  
-  
  
Gendou looked up from his newspaper as Shinji and another attractive girl entered the apartment.   
"Does she want to live here also, Shinji?"   
  
Ayanami gave Shinji's father, who had just gotten home, a slightly curious look. Shinji shook his head emphatically. "No, she's just here for homework."  
  
His father nodded, muttering something about "euphemisms". Shinji tried not to blush as he led Rei to his room, where he was more embarrassed to see Asuka lying on his bed.   
  
Shinji laughed nervously. "Asuka? I brought Ayanami."  
  
Asuka sat up, yawning, and rolled off the bed. "Nice to see you finally arrived, First. I wish you'd been here before when I explained everything to Shinji. Oh well, here goes. Listen carefully..."   
  
Asuka explained her fantasy in detail, much as she had done with Shinji. Rei simply listened as Asuka said countless unbelievable things.  
  
"I understand," she said, giving the impression that she thought that everything that Asuka had just said was perfectly sensible.  
  
"Really?" said Asuka, impressed, "You're better than Shinji. He's always asking stupid questions."  
  
"They weren't stupid..." Shinji muttered.  
  
She ignored him. "Shinji's just our secret weapon, really. He'll just go all psycho when it really counts."  
  
"She calls _me_ psycho..." muttered Shinji.  
  
Asuka cleared her throat. "Me and you are the reliable pilots."  
  
Rei nodded slightly. "I understand."  
  
"So, that brings us up to date. What we have to do is steal Adam or Lilith, steal the Lance of Longinus, and destroy the Mass Production Eva Units. Without the aid of Nerv."  
  
Rei nodded again.  
  
"Adam is in the Commander's right hand, so that should be the easiest to get. We just have to chop it off."  
  
Shinji grimaced. He wasn't liking the sound of this.  
  
"The Lance of Longinus is embedded in Lilith. To get down there we need the right key card and code sequence. But the Lance is too big to take without an Eva anyway, so we'd have to actually hijack an Eva get it.  
  
"To hijack an Eva we'll need a couple things. It will be easiest if we have the cooperation of someone in Nerv, someone that actually works with the Eva Units. We also need to obtain access to the secured areas, but that'll be easy compared to the first part. Once we have the spear we'll have to get rid of it somehow. The best thing to do is throw it right out of the Earth's atmosphere."  
  
Shinji was dubious.   
  
"That sounds difficult," said Rei, master of the obvious.  
  
"Actually, it sounds impossible. It would be a masterwork of planning if we did pull it off, though. And think of what's at stake."  
  
Shinji nodded thoughtfully. "I don't think Adam is in my dad's hand though."  
  
Asuka slapped her forehead. "Oh, of course. How stupid of me. Seele must have it now. " She turned to Shinji and pointed a finger at him. "Do you know of anyone on the inside that could help us?"  
  
"Maybe... Mrs. Akagi? She comes over here sometimes so I sort of know her."  
  
"That's a start. The first thing we have to do is get access to Lilith, though. If we can't do that, there's no point in trying anything else. So, does she have access?"  
  
Shinji thought about that for a second. "Maybe. I'm not really sure."  
  
"What's her job?"  
  
Shinji tried to remember, but he didn't often hear anything about his father's work. "I don't know."   
  
Asuka heard the doorbell ring and was distracted. "Hold on a second." She walked out of Shinji's room, curious to see who was at the door. Shinji was left alone with Rei for the moment. Left alone with her in his bedroom.  
  
Shinji coughed awkwardly after a few seconds of total silence. "So, did you believe everything Asuka said?" he asked awkwardly.  
  
She ignored him.  
  
-  
  
The Commander stood facing inwards in the doorway to the apartment, a small black suitcase in one hand. He was talking to a woman, who had stepped inside.  
  
"Make sure to watch all three of them Katsuragi. I won't be back until Saturday. I will not accept excuses."  
  
"Yes sir." Misato said, almost biting her tongue. She hadn't meant to call him 'sir' like that.   
  
_ -Why do I feel as if the world is at stake whenever he tells me to do something?-_  
  
"Shinji is important to me. Do not fail."  
  
"Understood."  
  
Gendou nodded and left.  
  
Misato sighed.  
  
_-'Understood'? At least I didn't say 'Hai!' and salute him.-_  
  
-  
  
Asuka slowly closed the door.  
  
_ -That could only mean that... what use could he have for Shinji besides fighting the angels?-_  
  
If he planned on initiating Third Impact he wouldn't need Shinji for anything. Only Seele's version of Third Impact used Shinji.  
  
"Who was that, Asuka?"  
  
"Someone named Katsuragi," she muttered, still thinking.  
  
"Misato-san?" Shinji exited his room, leaving Asuka and Rei behind.  
  
Asuka pondered the extremely confusing conversation she had just overheard.  
  
_-Is he planning on betraying Seele? Or maybe I didn't understood what they were talking about. Could the 'all or nothing venture' be some kind of initiation for the third angel?-_  
  
If that was the case, Nerv and Seele were still on her side. That actually made more sense. She had been quick to assume that they meant to initiate Third Impact.   
  
-  
  
"So your father just told her to sleep in your room? "  
  
Shinji nodded, embarrassed. "Yeah, but the weird thing is, she's insane. I even told him so."  
  
"Insane?"  
  
"Yeah, she thinks that she's a 'Pilot Errant' and that humanity is doomed if she doesn't save it. She's got all the details worked out too. I can almost believe her sometimes."  
  
"Like a television show or something?" Misato said, not quite able to believe it.  
  
"More like... an animation. Sort of like a really complicated mecha anime or something."  
  
Misato gave him a doubtful look. "That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard."  
  
"She's really smart though, as long as you don't mention anything about piloting or 'errantry'."  
  
"That seems so strange. How did you get involved in this?"  
  
Shinji took a deep breath, knowing what her response would be already. "She recruited me as a pilot."  
  
Misato burst out laughing, as Shinji had predicted.  
  
-  
  
Asuka walked up to Rei and spoke to her in a business-like tone, "Change of plans Rei."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"In light of new information, I think we need to do some surveillance before making any rash mistakes. Do you know anything about Nerv?"  
  
"No."  
  
"What about Shinji's father? Know anything personal about him?"  
  
"He is a business executive."  
  
Asuka sighed. It was going to take a lot of work. "That'll have to do. Listen carefully. In fact, write this down…"   
  
-  
  
"She actually spied on that meeting? What did she think of it?"  
  
"She thought they wanted to kill off the human race early. She was pretty upset."  
  
Misato continued laughing, tears streaming down her face. "She thinks your father is bent on destroying the human race?"  
  
"Well, that's where it gets complicated..."  
  
-  
  
Asuka stopped her lecture for a moment and listened to Misato's uncontrolled laughter. "God, what is wrong with that woman? How can she laugh like that without rupturing something?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
-  
  
Shinji explained Asuka's fantasy to Misato, to the best of his ability. He made many mistakes, mispronouncing the foreign words and confusing the facts horribly. This made the story quite confusing to Misato.  
  
"That made no sense at all Shinji," she reprimanded sternly.   
  
"It's not my story!" he protested.  
  
Rei exited Shinji's room and walked past the two of them, almost unnoticed.  
  
"You leaving, Ayanami?" asked Misato.  
  
She looked over her shoulder. "Yes. Goodbye."  
  
Misato gave the girl a friendly smile. "Bye."   
  
Misato remained silent until Rei had closed the door behind her. "It's hard to believe that even an insane person would pick the two of you to be saviors of humanity," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.  
  
Shinji shrugged. "She says that I have repressed anger and an inferiority complex. Like I said, she's smart. I don't know why she picked Rei though, unless it was because of that staring contest..."  
  
"You're not planning to do anything indecent to that girl, are you? The crazy one, I mean."  
  
"Asuka?" Shinji blushed deeply, caught off guardby the question. "She wouldn't let me. She doesn't seem too happy that she has to sleep in my room."  
  
Before Misato could respond, they heard Asuka's indignant voice behind them. "Well, of course!" The two of them snapped their attention to her. "It's not proper for two pilots to sleep in the same room. It goes again the rules of Pilot Errantry, which clearly state that a boy and a girl shouldn't sleep in the same room past the age of nine."  
  
"I thought that was seven," said Shinji.  
  
Asuka glared at him. "Then you obviously don't know much about Pilot Errantry you baka!"  
  
"I think he's right," said Misato, knowing the proverb had nothing to do with 'Pilot Errantry'.  
  
Asuka squinted her eyes at Misato. "Who are you? The Commander's lover? No, you're obviously the Ops Director. It must suck having such limited access to all the files and information regarding Second Impact, especially since you barely survived it. That scar below your breasts serves as a constant reminder, doesn't it? But regardless, I am the only one here qualified to discuss Pilot Errantry. The two of you could learn something if you just pay attention and don't argue."   
  
Misato stared at her, open-mouthed. The girl had just created a fake persona for her to occupy in her fantasy world without even blinking. Not that what she had said was too far off. She was sort of like a "Director of Operations" in a way. And they never told her anything about the productions until they brought her in for "consultation". Consultation meant, of course, that she would assume responsibility.   
  
She smiled warmly. "You're a good judge of character! I don't have a scar though."  
  
Asuka frowned. If that part of the story was inaccurate, what other parts couldn't be trusted? Everything depended on absolute accuracy. Even the smallest detail-  
  
"Hello?" Misato waved a hand in front of Asuka's face.  
  
"Do you know someone named Kaji?" Asuka asked, a little irritated.  
  
"Uh, no. Should I?"   
  
_-Damn, this is worse than I thought. If she doesn't even know who Kaji is...-_  
  
Maybe Seele was more involved than she thought. They could have been tampering with all kinds of things. They could have set up that meeting, knowing she would listen in and think that Third Impact was coming. "Those bastards! Are they just trying to mess with my head!?"  
  
"Who... are you talking about, Asuka?" asked Shinji, hesitantly.  
  
"Seele! They've erased her memory so that she doesn't remember anything about Kaji. On top of that, they've removed her scar somehow and erased her memory of that too!"  
  
"Seele?" asked Misato.  
  
"You don't remember Seele either? This is just too much! What are they after!?" Asuka ran back to Shinji's room, holding her head in her hands.   
  
Misato watched her as she ran down the hall, her easy smile melting away. "So it's true, then?" Misato suddenly didn't find the whole thing quite as funny.  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"And now she thinks I'm involved."  
  
"Looks like it," said Shinji apologetically.  
  
Misato's tone became serious and sober, "Maybe we should take her to a shrink. She might be dangerous."  
  
Shinji shook his head. "I don't think she's dangerous… she just has an overactive imagination."  
  
"And you said she's a college graduate? And she ran away from home? Do you know where she lives?"  
  
"She said she comes from Germany."  
  
"She must have a passport then. Unless she hijacked a plane or something…" said Misato, jokingly.  
  
Shinji thought about that for a second.  
  
"Shinji?"  
  
"No, I don't think she hijacked a plane. Probably not."  
  
"Right. Well, are you sure she's not dangerous?"  
  
"She just wants to save the world," Shinji said, and smiled slightly, "I don't think that could lead to anything bad."   
  
"Okay then, I'm going to talk to some people about this. I think she'll need a psychiatrist at the very least. She's obviously deranged."  
  
  
_ -Maybe Shinji and Rei would work as a couple… Argh! Concentrate! This is no time to be for that sort of thing!-_   
  
Misato wasn't necessarily the Operations Director. She could just be someone so minor that she was never mentioned. But Shinji seemed to know her very well. She couldn't be someone unimportant. But it was almost ridiculous to think that Seele would have gone to so much trouble over her. Maybe Seele discovered that Kaji had passed his information on to her? Then why didn't they just kill her like they planned to kill Kaji?_   
  
-Because she's cute?-_   
  
That certainly didn't seem like Seele logic. They must have still had a use for her.   
  
Seele was obviously changing the scenario. The angels weren't attacking. Maybe they planned on forcing the angels to attack? Something similar to the Second Impact? But Asuka had no idea why the angels would attack in the first place…  
  
-  
  
"How does Rei fit into all this?" Misato asked suddenly.  
  
"Asuka recruited her too. Asuka calls her the 'First Children' for some reason. Even though she was the last one."   
  
"What I mean is, why did she accept?"  
  
"I don't understand it either. I think maybe she actually believes Asuka."  
  
"Really? Well at least she's doing something. She still live by herself?"  
  
"As far as I know. Nobody really knows anything about her."  
  
Misato smirked. "Maybe Asuka will make up a past for her. Those two should get along just fine."  
  
Shinji giggled, causing Misato to give him a look. "What?"  
  
"You're a man, right? Don't giggle."  
  
Shinji looked at her suspiciously. "Are you drunk Misato?"  
  
"A little. You know, it's getting a little late Shinji. I'm going to be up for a while so you might as well go to sleep."  
  
He gave her a concerned look. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"No. I've just been having trouble sleeping recently."  
  
He saw through the lie easily. "A guy?"  
  
Misato gave Shinji a threatening look. "You know, you're not as cute as you used to be."  
  
-  
  
Shinji crept into his darkened room with high and silent steps, tip-toeing into the room. He didn't want to wake Asuka.   
  
"What are you doing?" said a voice from the darkness, belonging to Asuka.  
  
Asuka's eyes had adjusted to the dark, apparently. Shinji felt mildly embarrassed at his tip-toeing movements, and assumed a normal posture. "I thought you were asleep."  
  
Shinji heard a gasp. "You were sneaking in here because you thought I was asleep!?"  
  
Shinji flushed in embarrassment. "I just didn't want to wake you!"   
  
"Yeah right! I know what it means when a guy sneaks into a girl's room at night!" He couldn't see her face in the darkness, but he assumed she was livid.  
  
"But this is my room! You said I was supposed to sleep here!" protested Shinji, whining.  
  
She laughed. "Calm down Shinji. I was just joking. You sure are uptight. Can you turn on the light?"  
  
Relieved, he turned on the light, and saw that she was lying on his bed again. It made him slightly uncomfortable, but she apparently thought that it was perfectly normal. Although, technically, it was her room also. It would be kind of unfair to ask her not to use his bed, no matter how strange it seemed to him.  
  
Asuka squinted as the room brightened, and gradually opened her eyes again. "We're going to put off any plans for now, Shinji."  
  
"Plans?"  
  
"You know, cutting off your father's hand and everything. I need more information. I'm leaving that up to First though."  
  
"Ayanami?"  
  
"Yeah. She seems like a good fly on the wall to me. All except for the blue hair red eyes thing. It makes her stand out. So I told her to dye it brown and get some contacts."  
  
"You don't think that's dangerous?"  
  
"Not any more dangerous than what we did," she answered, a little defensively. "She has to take some risks too, you know."  
  
He nodded, not really caring. It wasn't like it was really dangerous to snoop around his dad's work. "Why the change in plans?"  
  
"Some things that your father told that Katsuragi woman. Apparently, he wants her to make sure you don't get killed before the angels start attacking. If that's true, they aren't planning to start Third Impact early, so we still need them for the Evas. In any case, I need to know what's going on."  
  
"Okay," he said, not understanding but not really caring either. "So what do you want me to do?"  
  
"For now, get some sleep. We've got school tomorrow." She gestured toward his bed.  
  
He blushed. "You want me to sleep with you?"  
  
She smacked him. "Of course not! I'm sleeping on the floor!"  
  
"I think you should sleep on the bed," Shinji said, rubbing his injured cheek.  
  
"I'm not some pathetic little girl that needs to sleep on a soft bed." She narrowed her eyes. "I don't need special treatment."  
  
"Well, I'm sleeping on the floor," Shinji said in a tone that could almost be described as 'firm' if his voice was capable of becoming so, which it theoretically should have been. Nonetheless, Asuka simply shrugged and let him sleep on the floor. She slept there too, of course. On the opposite side of the room, naturally.  
  
-  
  
Asuka was only slightly annoyed with Shinji for insistence on sleeping on the floor. He probably just wanted did it because it was polite, but at least he hadn't just done as she'd told him without question. But then again, the reason Shinji was sleeping on the floor was probably just because he didn't have enough of a sense of self worth to take the bed. He was just being pathetic, as he was wont to do.   
  
After a short while she heard Shinji start to snore.  
  
-  
  
The two of them were sleeping on opposite sides of the room, but Asuka was next to the door. Because of this, Shinji almost stepped on her on his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Luckily for him, he stepped over her.  
  
"What are you doing you idiot? You almost stepped on me!" said Asuka, amazed at his rudeness.  
  
He didn't answer as he listlessly left the room. As he turned she noticed that his eyes were closed. He was sleepwalking. This confused her. _  
  
-Aren't I the one that's supposed to sleepwalk?-_   
  
A moment later he returned and plopped down next to her. This confused her even more. _  
  
-I'm supposed to be the one that does that, too.-_  
  
"Ma… mama…" he whispered, and she stared at his enticing lips.  
  
Now she was extremely confused. _-Am I the third children?- _She shook her head. The idea was ridiculous. There was no way the facts could have gotten mixed up that badly. Besides, she was obviously the Second.   
  
In any case, she had some idea of what she was supposed to do. She had to improvise.   
  
_ -The boy feigned sleep as the girl plopped down next to him, sending a whoosh of air over him. He opened his eyes, staring at her breasts. Enticed by her lips, he leaned forward, stopping only when he heard her whisper, "...mama...".   
  
The girl pinched the boy's nose closed and leaned forward kissing him until he ran out of air and disengaged himself. Obviously embarrassed, she ran away, only to gargle with mouthwash while complaining loudly.-  
_  
She nodded firmly, took a deep breath, pinched his nose shut, and kissed him. His eyes opened gradually. Realizing he couldn't easily escape from the position he was in, she let him go before he ran out of breath.   
  
"Uhh…" He was confused beyond belief. Her lips had woken him up immediately, but it had taken a moment for him to realize that he wasn't dreaming.  
  
"What?" Asuka wasn't sure if she was supposed to run into the other room and wash her mouth out or not. It was probably a bad idea to mix the two scenes together in the first place.  
  
Shinji was at a loss for words. He just stared at her, not knowing what to do.  
  
"This is my sleeping bag. Your bag is over there," she said helpfully.  
  
End Chapter Four   
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Three

** Chapter Five: Of Rei's Reconnaissance Mission, and Other Interesting and Amusing Events**  
  
  
The cashier gave her an odd look, but didn't say anything as she bought the dark brown hair dye. The man in the shop that sold eyeglasses gave her a similar look.  
  
_-Confusion_-  
  
-  
  
Rei looked at herself in the mirror, coldly verifying that her hair had changed from light blue to an unremarkable brownish color. She then placed the contact lenses on her eyes, coldly verifying that her eyes had changed from red to brown. _  
  
-Metamorphosis_-   
  
-  
  
Rei walked past the front gate like a ghost. The guard, not quite asleep, didn't look up from his newspaper.  
  
The main doors were locked with a combination keypad, so she hid behind a bush located conveniently next to the doors. She waited quietly for someone to open it, and simply followed them in.   
  
It seemed almost ridiculously easy. Asuka had told her that people would be on guard and alert. Asuka had told her to be extremely careful, as many of them were likely to be armed. They didn't seem to even notice her at all. It was disappointing.   
  
She pressed the button to call the elevator and waited. She walked into the elevator and had immediate access to every floor. She pressed the button with the highest number and was taken to the fourteenth floor. She stepped out into a short hallway and glanced to the left. She saw it was a dead end she turned right and made her way to the adjoining corridor.   
  
_-Intrusion-_  
  
-  
  
Her eyes took in the details and she attempted to commit them to memory, not wanting them to become lost in the future. She walked past many doors, some of which had names on them. She was looking for a specific name. Ikari Gendou. Walking past a door with a plaque that read "Conference Room" she took note of it's location, placing a star next to it on her mental map.  
  
The place was almost empty, except for the few people who had come in early. A few of these people walked past her, but no one questioned her presence. She didn't seem out of place, despite her age. She made herself inconspicuous by following Asuka's instructions, which were easy for her.  
  
_-Walk at a normal pace, and try to look bored and confident. If anyone questions you, ask for directions to the bathroom or something. If you look like you're supposed to be there, no one will bother you.-  
  
_ If Asuka had said, "Act nervous, run around, and try to look interested," that would have presented a problem. _  
  
-I'm guessing there will only be a problem will be if someone recognizes you.- _  
  
The only person that might recognize her was Mr. Ikari, but he had apparently left the previous day on a business trip of some kind.   
  
She came to a dead end that also happened to be her destination. The door blocking her way lead to the office of Ikari Gendou. Assuming that the people working nearest to him would have the most information, she walked through the nearest door. The room she entered contained several desks, and was empty. She examined the desks more closely, assuming that there would be some sort of supervisor. _  
  
-Confidence-_  
  
Upon closer examination, none of the desks were labeled. Seeing this, she simply crawled under the largest one, making sure that she wouldn't be seen by a person sitting at the desk. She stretched out along the wall behind her, assuming a semi comfortable position that would keep her hidden from anyone who didn't look directly underneath the desk. She waited for the first employees to arrive. She fell asleep. _  
  
-Patience-_  
  
She woke up to the sound of coughing. _  
  
-Sickness-_  
  
She heard a voice female voice to the left. "What are you working on?" _   
  
-Encouragement-_  
  
The man sitting at the desk responded. "Oh, nothing. These are just some sketches and designs I'm supposed to show to Fuyutsuki when he comes in. Turns out everything that deals with 'Project E' is supposed to go through him. He must be working at least 12 hours a day. I don't envy that job."   
  
Designs? Sketches? She wondered if they could be important. In any case, she had a name. Fuyutsuki. She continued listening to the two of them talk, waiting for the man to leave the desk. She would go to Fuyutsuki's office after stealing the designs. _  
  
-Purpose-_  
  
The two people continued to talk. "And he's not in yet? I'd come in early if I had that much work to do." _  
  
-Exasperation-_  
  
"I'm not sure what he's doing this morning. He should be here within the hour though, I think." _  
  
-Explanation-_  
  
"He'll probably stay 'til midnight."   
  
-_Condemnation-_  
  
"The man works like a beast. Hardly human, you know what I mean?" _  
  
-Yes.-_   
-  
  
_"Can't you just act like a normal human being?"  
  
She didn't respond.  
  
"What's wrong with you? Just smile! You have no reason to be sad!"  
  
She tried to ignore him.  
  
_ -  
_  
_"I'm just glad I don't have that thankless job. It must be terrible to do all the work and get none of the credit."_   
  
_"I don't know, it probably pays pretty well."  
_  
_"Yeah, I guess... say, you want to go get some coffee? I want to wake up a bit before I deal with Fuyutsuki."   
"Sure." He stood up from his desk, and took the sketches with him.  
  
-   
_-The man took the sketches with him.-_   
  
She left the room and walked directly to Fuyutsuki's office, intending to break and enter.   
  
The door was locked, as had been predicted. She would have to pick it, as Asuka had taught her.  
  
_-Anyone can pick a lock, if it's a simple one. It just takes time and practice. Practice on your own door first. It's easy; just apply force to the door and lift the pins up one at a time. Watch carefully...- _  
  
Ayanami had learned the skill relatively quickly. If she possessed anything in spades, it was patience.   
  
The lock wasn't exactly the same, and it took longer than she hoped. She had no excuse to give if someone caught her in the act of breaking into the room. Fortunately, no one saw her, and ten minutes later she entered the office, wisely locking the door behind her.   
  
She started searching through the desk drawers and heard the sound of a key being inserted into a lock. She immediately closed the drawer she was searching through and hid under the desk.  
  
-  
  
Fuyutsuki walked into his office, dragging his feet. The days seemed to get longer every year, and his work would begin in less than a minute, no matter how exhausted he was. When he sat down, there was already someone standing in front of his desk.  
  
"These are some basic sketches, to give you an idea of what we have in mind."   
  
Fuyutsuki examined a few of the sketches critically and lazily. "Isn't this a bit old-fashioned? I thought we were going to do something 'different'."  
  
The man, whose name Fuyutsuki wished he could remember, spoke defensively, "Well, it's sort of a subtle satire."  
  
Fuyutsuki shrugged. He didn't really care much about the art style. "Very well. What does Hamasaki think of these character designs?"   
  
"He drew most of them himself, actually. He wants to rework a few, but he said he was pretty satisfied."  
  
Fuyutsuki nodded. "Very well. Leave them here for now."  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"I want to call in Katsuragi. I'm going to take charge of the whole pre-development phase. This is too important to delegate to someone else. I'll take care of it."  
  
The man was visibly shocked. "Should I tell Ms. Akagi, sir?"   
  
Fuyutsuki waved him off, "No, no. I said I'll take care of it."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
-  
  
Fuyutsuki didn't dial until the door had closed completely, not wanting anyone to overhear the unpleasant conversation.   
  
_ "Technical Branch, Ms. Ibuki speaking."_  
  
"Ms. Ibuki? Is Mrs. Akagi around?" he asked, half hoping for a negative answer.  
  
_ "One moment, sir."_  
  
He heard Ritsuko's voice a moment later. _"Fuyutsuki? What is it?" _  
  
"It's about the new project. I'm taking charge of the pre-development phase." Here it comes.  
  
_ "What? Why? Who's idea was this!? Are you saying I'm not qualified!?" _  
  
Although Fuyutsuki was completely qualified for the task, it was definitely outside his normal sphere of influence. His was more of a supervisory role, in theory.   
  
"It will just be for this initial phase. I'll pass it back to you once we've laid the foundation."  
  
_ "But that still doesn't answer-" _  
  
"Mrs. Akagi, there is no room for error on this project. I will do as I see fit."   
  
It was a slap in the face, but a necessary one. Akagi just couldn't be trusted with certain things anymore.  
  
_ "But sir..." _  
  
-  
  
Fuyutsuki sighed and dialed in a second number. They needed Katsuragi, as always.  
  
_"You've reached the Katsuragi residence. You can reach me at the following number…" _  
  
Fuyutsuki frowned. Had she taken another job? It was certainly possible, but it was a little hard to believe. Steps had been taken to prevent that sort of thing, after all.  
  
Shrugging, he dialed in the number the machine had indicated.   
  
_ "Katsuragi speaking."_  
  
"This is Fuyutsuki. I'd like you to come in today."  
  
_ "Today? So soon? I thought that…"_  
  
"It's best not to speak of this over the phone. You are free today, yes?"  
  
-  
  
"Understood. I'll be there in an hour." _  
  
-The old men don't know about this, do they?- _They were going to be taking some serious risks. Despite what had been said at the meeting, this was something enormous. It looked like it really _could_ make or break the studio after all.  
  
-  
  
Fuyutsuki stared at the spot on his desk where the sketches had been. How strange. Hopefully, someone had remembered to make copy or two.  
  
-  
  
Ayanami smiled very slightly, a smile too small to be seen by anyone besides herself, the sheaf of papers held safely in her arms. Her mission had been accomplished. She left the building as she had entered, like a ghost.  
  
  
  
** Chapter Six: In Which Asuka Strikes**  
  
  
Shinji had wanted to keep the whole mess a secret from his two friends. Unfortunately, he was badly in need of advice from someone his own age. He should have been more specific and sought advice from someone his own maturity level.  
  
"Second base at least, right?"  
  
Shinji sighed, resigned. "I'm serious about this you guys..."  
  
Touji took an offended tone, "I'm serious too! Tell me you at least kissed her. If a girl moves in with you, takes over your space, annoys the hell out of you, and still won't even_ kiss_ you... you should just end it all, you know?"  
  
Kensuke nodded, "I'd have to agree. It's pretty pathetic when a man loses his manhood and gets nothing in return. Death is the only way out in that situation..."  
  
"I come to you guys for advice and you tell me to kill myself?" Shinji said, shocked.  
  
Kensuke was shocked as well. "You came to us for _advice_?"  
  
"I guess it was pretty stupid," Shinji admitted.  
  
"Why? You think we can't take anything seriously?" asked Touji, indignant.  
  
"Not when it comes to girls."  
  
"Hey, we've given you plenty of advice about Rei," Kensuke pointed out. The had indeed given him a lot of advice on the girl, none of it useful in the end.  
  
Shinji nodded grudgingly. "So, do you think you guys can help me out?"  
  
Touji was thoughtful for a second. "So what's the situation? She's psycho, sure, but what do you think of her?"  
  
Shinji looked at his feet, unsure of himself. "I don't know. I'm kind of flattered that she picked me, out of everybody. And she is kind of fun to be around…"   
  
He was cut off as the fire alarm sounded.   
  
-  
  
The three of them walked towards the grassy field that was just outside the school and arrived there before any of the other students, having been close to the school's edge.  
  
"Did you hear something?" said Touji, looking in all directions.  
  
"I can hear the fire alarm," said Kensuke helpfully.  
  
"That sounds like Asuka..." said Shinji, who suddenlyfelt a feeling of deep foreboding.  
  
Then, surely enough, Shinji saw Asuka running toward them, having been on the other side of school where she had told Shinji to meet her. From the way she was running, Shinji was sure she was going to do more than just scold him for breaking their arrangement.  
  
"Shinji…!" Asuka came running towards them, her voice high-pitched with excitement. "Shinji, watch out! That thing's dangerous!"  
  
"Huh?" Shinji said blankly, as Asuka barreled into Touji. She caught the large boy off guard and knocked him to the ground.   
  
Touji was surprised by the attack and hadn't braced himself. He fell badly, bending one of his arms to an unnatural angle.   
  
"Ow! Damn! What the hell!?" .   
  
"Asuka, what are you doing!?" cried Shinji.  
  
"Come on Shinji, stop standing there like an idiot!" shouted Asuka as she grabbed the nearest weapon she could find, a small and thick stick. "He's Sachiel, the third angel!"  
  
Touji, who had just climbed to his feet, took off running through the grass, heading towards the school, and. Asuka pursued him. He didn't run out of fear, of course. He wasn't a wimp. He just didn't know how to deal with being attacked by a female.   
  
And, he had to admit, the girl was pretty frightening. Touji suddenly felt a dose of sympathy for Shinji as the girl gained ground on him.   
  
"Eat hot prog knife you monster!" shouted Asuka as she chased after him. "Come on Shinji, it's getting away!"  
  
Shinji ran after her, hoping to be able to talk some sense into her. "That's not an angel Asuka! That's my friend, Touji!"  
  
"I don't have any time for your babbling Shinji! Just help me kill it!" she shouted angrily.  
  
"Ow!" yelped Touji, as Asuka stabbed him in the shoulder. "Okay, that's it! I don't care if you're a girl!" He turned around and grabbed her right hand as she tried to stab him again, easily overpowering her.  
  
-  
  
_-I didn't think it would be this huge!-_   
  
Asuka growled as the huge black beast forced her to drop her progressive knife by squeezing her unit's wrist tightly, breaking the joint with a *crack*.   
  
-_I need to penetrate the core somehow.-_   
  
"Are you finished?" the beast asked her, speaking in an accent.  
  
"NO!" she shouted. "I'd rather die than surrender!" She hooked her right foot behind it's knee as she rammed her shoulder into it's torso with her all the force she could muster. Caught off guard, the beast collapsed backwards, with Unit-02 on top of it. She grinned maniacally as her hand gripped the fallen progressive knife. With all her speed and strength, she drove the knife towards the angel's core, the taste of victory already on her lips.  
  
"Oh my God!" shouted the beast, a final plea to it's master. It's hands were gripped around hers now, trying to force the knife back away from itself.  
  
"UUUWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" she shouted. There was no way she was going to give up when she was so close. The knife inched closer.  
  
-  
  
"UUUWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Shinji heard, coming from inside the library.   
  
He ran inside to see that Touji had pinned Asuka to the ground, holding her firmly by her shoulders.  
  
"Shinji, help me out here!" She shouted at him furiously. "Don't just stand there!"  
  
"Asuka, that's not an angel," he explained calmly. He walked towards the pair, thinking that Asuka might break free and attack Touji again.   
  
"Of course it is! You're supposed to be helping me you idiot! You're a disgrace to the profession!"  
  
"But... I really don't think that's an angel Asuka. It looks just like Touji. I can't attack my own friend," Shinji protested.  
  
"Shut up! Just do as I say or I'll strip you of your title and your plugsuit!" Touji had to struggle to hold her down as she thrashed around, furious at Shinji's words.  
  
Suddenly, Shinji realized the fatal and obvious flaw in her logic. "Didn't you say we'd need those robots to fight the angels?"  
  
"Yeah, so what? Stop wasting time! Do you want me to die!?"  
  
"We're not inside robots, Asuka."  
  
She blinked, and considered this, looking up at Shinji and down at herself. She seemed to finally come to her senses. Seeing that she had calmed down, Touji let her go free. She stood up, dusting herself off.   
  
She patiently explained her actions, saying, "Seele somehow transformed this boy into an angel temporarily. Those Seele bastards won't stop messing with my head."   
  
"You're a psycho bitch. There's no such thing as 'Seele'," Touji hypothesized.  
  
Asuka growled. "Just because you know nothing of Pilot Errantry is no reason to insult me, moron. You'd better shut your mouth or I'll finish what I started, whether you're an angel or not."  
  
"Pilot Errantry? There's no such thing! They'd only make a kid like you a pilot of something in an anime!"  
  
Asuka's face erupted in fury as she snarled at him. "HOW DARE YOU!? Only an idiot would dare say to an actual Pilot Errant that Pilot Errantry doesn't exist! If you don't shut up right now I'm gonna teach you a lesson."  
  
"You've pushed me far enough, bitch. Don't think I'll go easy on you 'cause you're a girl."  
  
"Asuka kick!" shouted Asuka as she launched a flying side-kick at the surprised boy. Not expecting an attack so soon, Touji was knocked off his feet by the flashy kick, which hit him directly on the chest. He quickly regained his feet, deciding that he'd had enough.   
  
"No more messing around, psycho girl," he said, cracking his knuckles.  
  
"Asuka punch!" She shouted, telegraphing her attack. He easily dodged, having had plenty of advance warning. She wasn't a threat, as long as she kept on shouting out what she was going to do. His anger diminished slightly, and he realized that he simply couldn't hit her. She was technically a defenseless female in his eyes, no matter how aggressive her behavior.  
  
Shinji watched hopelessly as the two continued their ridiculous fight. Touji seemed unwilling to hit her, and Asuka seemed unwilling to fight without shouting out her moves. "Asuka… THUNDER!" shouted the girl, unleashing a barrage of hammer fists on Touji as he blocked with both arms.   
  
"Stop! Stop! I give up already!" he yelled.   
  
Asuka nodded, and ceased her attack. "Finally showing some respect, I see." She turned to Shinji and smirked. "What did you think of that, Shinji?"  
  
"Um." He seemed hesitant to speak. "That was really... good, Asuka." He tried his best to sound sincere.  
  
"It WAS good!" she said, not fooled by his attempt. "I know that you're shy and everything, but we can't let ourselves be insulted like that. I am interfering with Seele's plans and so they have targeted me. Because of that I was forced to do something that turned out to be a mistake, but that didn't give that boy a reason to insult me. I can't let an insult like that stand. Understand, Shinji?"  
  
Naturally, he didn't understand at all. "Yeah, I guess so."  
  
"Okay, good. Now let's go back to class."  
  
Touji spoke. "They're gonna be looking for us. The fire alarm, you know."  
  
"Quiet, you!" she demanded.  
  
"Yes, ma'am!" said Touji, managing to make his tone sarcastic.   
  
-  
  
"Kiritsu! Rei! Chakuseki!" yelled the Class Representative.   
  
Rei was back, and Asuka was pleasantly surprised see her return so soon. Unless, that is, she had been kicked out of the building. Or hadn't been able to find it, despite the fact that Asuka had given her perfect directions.   
  
Rei's dyed hair raised quite a lot of whispers. One girl even loudly proclaimed, "I knew it!" when Rei first entered the room. Asuka shook her head in disgust. Even though she had just met the girl, she knew that Rei would never dye her hair blue to attract attention. She just wasn't that shallow. Asuka recognized that Rei was the only one besides herself who seemed to understand the importance and responsibility of being a pilot.  
  
-  
  
-_"What are you doing?"_  
  
_ She remained silent for a long time, not wanting to answer. Finally, she whispered, so quietly that he almost couldn't hear, "Nothing."_  
  
_ "I can see that! Why don't you go outside and play, Rei? Make some friends? I'll tell you what, go outside for an hour. I don't care what you do, but do it outside."_  
  
_ She stood up and left without a word, knowing it was useless to argue. She spent the hour sitting on a bench, shivering, before she returned. She slept._  
_   
_ -   
Turning her attention to the current lesson, Asuka noticed that the teacher was currently teaching physics. She glared him angrily. He hadn't mentioned Second Impact or anything dealing with Angels even once. The most important event of the century, and none of the children seemed to know anything about it. She raised her hand.  
  
"Yes, Asuka?"  
  
"I was wondering if you could tell us about Second Impact, Sensei."  
  
"Sekundo... Inpakuto?"  
  
Asuka ground her teeth together and counted to ten. "Never mind, sensei."  
  
-  
  
Ayanami received a message on her computer screen. The first in a long time.   
  
_ Asuka: Do you have anything to report?  
  
_She had thought that Asuka would want to hear the details in person. Asuka was impatient? She typed in a message, a little awkwardly. She hadn't had much use for her keyboard in the past.   
  
_ Ayanami:_ _I have drawings, designs._  
  
A reply came back almost immediately. Asuka was obviously more familiar with a keyboard than she was.  
  
_ Asuka: Is that all? What about names? Plans? A schedule?_  
  
_ Ayanami: I know who will be in charge of the 'pre-development phase'. I know names of two other people. _  
  
_ Asuka: And they are...?_  
  
_ Ayanami: Fuyutsuki, Akagi, Hamasaki._  
  
_ Asuka: Anything else?  
  
Ayanami: That is all.  
_  
_ Asuka: I'll contact you later and tell you what happened today. We have to be on our guard against Seele. They have more power than I thought.  
_  
-  
  
"Okay First, I had an encounter with Seele today. They somehow messed with my mind and made me think that some kid was an angel," Asuka explained. "I attacked him, and he wasn't really the enemy, but obviously I can't hold myself responsible for something like that, right?"  
  
"You killed him?" asked Rei, no concern apparent.  
  
"No. But I did give him a demonstration of my skill. Anyway, my point is that we have to constantly be on guard. Seele can play weird mind games with you. And there's one more thing; if anyone insults you, don't stand for it. Just beat the crap out of them, or, this one'll be easier for you, just stare 'em down. Pilots demand respect at all times."  
  
"I… see."  
  
Asuka considered her hesitation disapprovingly for a moment, then shrugged it off. "Good. Now show me those drawings. What are they?"  
  
Ayanami handed the sketches to Asuka, assuming them to be self-explanatory.  
  
Asuka inspected the sketches closely. She frowned. The mecha designs didn't look that much like Eva at all. They looked to be about the same height, but twice as large in girth. Their features were much less humanoid, also. An Eva with an extra 500 megatons of armor maybe? That seemed like pretty ridiculous and unworkable concept. -_Pre-development, huh?-  
  
_ Seeing the sketches, everything suddenly made sense to Asuka. The 'all or nothing venture' they had been talking about was surely the construction of the monstrosities they had designed. But why pay so much for materials when the important thing was the AT field? And surely the maneuverability would suffer as well.   
  
Still, she felt threatened by the unwieldy looking monstrosities. If they were only in the pre-development stages, it could mean that Asuka would end up facing them along with the Mass Production units. On top of that, they would draw funding away from the primary Eva units. Seele _did_ want to kill the angels, right?  
  
Asuka flipped through to the character sketches and gasped. _They know what the pilots will look like ahead of time?_ It could only mean one thing. Pilots were genetically engineered to fit into a _very_ specific pattern. And now Nerv was planning on harvesting a batch of new pilots.  
  
"Sohryu?"  
  
Asuka looked up at Ayanami, annoyed. "What? I was thinking."  
  
"Do you have any further orders?"  
  
Asuka thought for a moment. "See if you can get an estimated production date for these... things. Anything having to do with new pilots would be good too."  
  
"I keep the lock pick?"  
  
"Yes, of course," Asuka said, in a distracted tone.  
  
End Chapter Six  
  



	4. Four

** Chapter Seven: About Asuka's Amusing and Atrocious Adventure, Which Takes Place on a Playground**  
  
"Kyoko, she's _your_ daughter, where do _you_ think she would be staying?"  
  
"She could be surviving in the wilds on nuts and berries for all I know."  
  
"There are no 'wilds' in Japan, Kyoko."  
  
"Well then, I would assume that she is staying in a hotel or something. She has enough money to last for a while. Hmm, maybe we spoiled her a bit too much."  
  
"Gee, you think so?"  
  
"There's no need for sarcasm."  
  
-  
  
"I'm glad you're coming with us Shinji," said Touji, "I'm always saying that you should get out more often, and you know you don't have to wait for an invitation or anything... but why does she have to come along?" Touji cast a backward glance at Asuka, who was telling God-knows-what to his little sister.  
  
"I think going to a nice peaceful place like a park might be good for her. Maybe bring back memories of her childhood," said Shinji. "I wasn't too worried before, but now that she's actually tried to hurt someone..."  
  
"But I don't want her around my sister," Touji whispered harshly, "What if she goes nuts again?"  
  
"It'll be okay. She doesn't mean any harm," Shinji said, trying to sound reassuring.   
  
"If you say so. I'm staying next to my sister the whole time, though. I'm not taking any chances."  
  
"What are you two talking about?" asked Asuka, catching up to the two of them.  
  
"N-nothing Asuka," said Shinji.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
-  
  
Shinji smiled as Touji's tiny little sister jumped up and down skillfully as the two of them swung the jump rope. She seemed to be quite agile, and the rope never touched her feet. "Hey, Asuka!" Shinji called to the girl, who was watching them on a nearby bench.   
  
"What do you want, Shinji?" she asked, looking as if she was bored out of her mind.   
  
"You want to give it a try?" Shinji asked politely, holding his handle of the jump rope toward her.  
  
"Shinji!" hissed Touji from across the rope, "She's dangerous!"   
  
"But she's sitting there all by herself!" Shinji whispered loudly. He called out to her again, "Asuka, come on, it's fun."  
  
She sighed, and stood up. "Fine, fine. Anything's better than counting clouds," she said. She walked over and grabbed the rope from Shinji. The two of them started swinging the rope, Touji watching Asuka like a hawk. She ignored him, and a slight smile developed on her face as she watched the girl gleefully and skillfully jump the rope, her timing nearly perfect.  
  
"This is too easy!" Protested the tiny girl as she continued to jump, "Let's do double dutch!"   
  
Asuka took a sharp intake of breath, and the rope nearly fell from her hand as her grip went limp.  
  
-  
  
_ -"This is way too easy! I want to do something harder! HEY! **LISTEN!**"  
  
"Asuka, calm down. I'm busy right now. There's no need to get angry."  
  
"Don't talk to me like I'm some kind of kid!"  
  
"Asuka! Stop acting like a spoiled brat!"   
  
The eight year old Asuka didn't respond, but glared silently at her mother with eyes full of hatred.-_  
  
-  
  
Asuka didn't respond when Shinji put a second jump rope in her hand.  
  
"Asuka? Are you okay?" Shinji asked with a concerned expression.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Aren't you going to…" Shinji began.  
  
Asuka gasped, looking at Touji with her eyes wide, and Shinji froze as he recognized the gleam in her eyes.  
  
"Asuka? Please don't-"  
  
"Shamshiel! It's got me!" Asuka shouted, as she gripped the handles of the jump ropes tightly. She started pulling Touji toward her, wrapping the ropes around her wrists as he stumbled forward. "Come here you bastard! Shinji, get it!"  
  
As Shinji looked back and forth between the two of them helplessly, Touji's little sister watched the exchange with interest.  
  
"Shin-chan, what are they doing?" asked the little girl, full of curiosity.  
  
"They're… uh… well it looks like they playing tug-o-war."  
  
"Can we play too Shin-chan?" she asked innocently.  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea," Shinji said quickly.  
  
-  
  
Asuka pulled on the glowing tentacles with all of her strength and they came off, sending her stumbling backwards with the tentacles cooling in her hands, both of which changed instantaneously into something resembling rope. When she looked up, the angel had disappeared as well, replaced by an idiotic boy.   
  
_-An illusion?-_  
  
She looked around in all directions, and she spotted a huge monster in the distance that was definitely not Shamshiel. It was a huge floating polyhedron that had apparently appeared out of nowhere.  
  
"There it is!" shouted Asuka, running off, "It's not Shamshiel, it's Ramiel!"  
  
Shinji chased after her but was unable to keep up. He fell farther and farther behind as she pulled out her small stick and charged towards the cage-like structure of the jungle gym.   
  
"Asuka, slow down! That's not an angel!" Shinji shouted desperately. It looked as if she was going to hit the metal structure very badly and very quickly.  
  
"If I slow down I'm fried, idiot! If you want to help, cover me!"  
  
Shinji ran after her, watching helplessly as she ran head on into the bars, swinging her wrist with a stabbing motion into one of the steel bars as her face collided with another. This wasn't enough to stop her at the speed she was running, however, and her body continued forward. First her right shoulder then her back collided with the bars, after which she tumbled to the ground.  
  
Shinji ran towards her limp body, choked with tears, and knelt down next to her. Blood poured from her bent and misshapen nose, which.was almost certainly broken. "Asuka, I tried to tell you but you wouldn't listen!" whined Shinji, tears starting to drip down his face. "You're really hurt!"  
  
"Don't worry Shinji," said Asuka, in a pained voice. "I've been hurt a lot worse than this. This is like nothing to a Pilot Errant. The only thing that bothers me is the fact that Seele is constantly tormenting me. They turned this stupid little jungle gym into Ramiel temporarily to mess with my head. They're really starting to piss me off!"  
  
"Is she okay?" asked Touji, still shocked at what he had just seen Asuka do. "Did she really just run straight into those metal bars, or am I crazy?"  
  
Shinji forced a smile and wiped his nose. "I think we'd better get her to a hospital."  
  
-  
  
"You'd think a red haired girl would stand out in Tokyo," grumbled Asuka's father.  
  
"I don't think that just asking around isn't going to get us anywhere in this city. It's just to big, and there's just too many people," said Kyoko.   
  
"I just hope that she actually is in this city and not wandering around the country looking for 'Tokyo-3'."   
  
-  
  
Misato stared at the three of them in disbelief. "She ran straight into an iron cage for no reason?"  
  
Asuka shook her head vehemently. "No ma'am. Seele transformed it into the fifth angel, Ramiel, to confuse me. They're so persistant." She smiled, then winced slightly.  
  
_-Right.-_   
  
Misato nodded, her lips tightly shut. "Alright then, let's get you to a hospital."  
  
-  
  
Shinji and Misato waited for Asuka in the waiting room.   
  
"She attacked Touji yesterday. With a stick," Shinji said quietly.  
  
"She did?"  
  
"She thought he was an angel. Then they had a fight afterwards and she yelled out 'Asuka kick!' as she kicked him. She wasn't joking."  
  
"Really? Hmm… truth is stranger than fiction sometimes, huh? It'd make a good comedy." Misato laughed. "Maybe I'll pitch it to Fuyutsuki."   
  
Shinji didn't laugh, but instead said, with a grim expression, "I didn't think it was funny. She had blood all over her face."  
  
"Oh, lighten up Shinji. You're always so gloomy. I hardly ever see you smile."  
  
Shinji didn't say anything, opting instead to inspect his shoes. After a few moments he looked up at the woman.  
  
"Misato?" he asked, hesitant.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Why do you work for my dad so much? Aren't you just like a military consultant or something?" He didn't talk to Misato about her work very much, since that normally meant discussing his father, but he often wondered about it.  
  
"I stretch the job description a lot. Your father runs things a little bit differently than you'd expect. I like it this way, though. The hours are really flexible."  
  
She liked it, but it didn't exactly make her famous in the business. Gendou Ikari was pretty much the only person she worked for. He was pretty much the only person she _could_ work for. People always told her she should be an actress.   
  
_ -No one takes a woman seriously. -  
_  
Shinji inspected his shoes again as Misato fumed. "Um, Misato?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"It's been a while, hasn't it?"  
  
She nodded. _-It has been a while. Nearly a year.-_  
  
Misato sighed. "Your father wants you to be able to take care of yourself. He's a cold man, but he does care."  
  
Shinji said nothing.   
  
"Your father is…" Misato trailed off.   
  
This wasn't a comfortable subject for either of them. Gendou Ikari was a man both of them had grown to hate and respect. A man they were both forced to accept.  
  
"I just wish you were around a little bit more…" said Shinji, in a tone that Misato considered almost pathetic.  
  
Misato looked over at him, smiling. She had never minded looking after him, and had actually looked forward to Gendou's trips overseas. Shinji had always been such a shy and interesting boy. So easy to tease, so vulnerable, so weak.  
  
"You need friends your own age, Shinji," she said, although she knew that he needed no reminder. Shinji obviously wanted friends as much as anyone. "It looks like you have at least a couple of friends now, though."  
  
Shinji nodded. "I met Touji and Kensuke this year. They saw me trying to talk to Ayanami and started teasing me about it."  
  
"You'd make friends easily if you weren't so shy Shinji."  
  
"I know Misato. You've given me this lecture before."  
-   
  
"Hmm." The doctor inspected her nose carefully. "It looks like this won't require an open reduction, so I'll be able to fix you up here, without surgery. How did it happen?"  
  
Asuka opened her mouth to speak, and took a breath, ready to explain the entire situation. Then she let the breath out. She wanted to tell him the truth, but she was a little tired of people looking at her like she was crazy.   
  
"I tripped," she mumbled.   
  
-  
  
"Shinji, there was something I meant to talk to you about yesterday, but I forgot about it."   
  
"Yes?" replied Shinji, aware from the tone of her voice that she had something unpleasant to discuss.  
  
Despite the teasing, this wasn't something she was comfortable talking to Shinji about. She wasn't his mother, and it just felt wrong. But it was a task she had been given, and a task she had accepted.  
  
"Well, you and this girl are sleeping in the same room…"  
  
"We're not really sleeping close to each other though." His tone was guarded and defensive.  
  
Misato took a deep breath. "Well, it still raises certain concerns. Your father wanted me to make sure that nothing… inappropriate happens."  
  
Shinji blushed. "It's not like that." Admittedly, she _had_ kissed him one time, if it wasn't a dream, but it had been really strange. Afterwards, it had seemed as if she had just been kissing him for the hell of it.  
  
"Well, I've got something that I want you to do tonight, after we get back. You're not going to like it," Misato warned him.  
  
-  
  
As Misato drove the two of them back, Shinji couldn't get a single scenario out of his head.   
  
-  
  
_ Asuka: Where are you going Shinji?  
Shinji: Oh, nowhere.  
  
Ten minutes later…  
  
Asuka: Oh, you're back. Say, what do you have there?  
Shinji: Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Just some things you know. Various things.  
Asuka: Give me that! What the… these are… condoms! You're Bakael! Die!  
_   
-  
  
Shinji shuddered.  
  
"Where are you going Shinji?" Asuka asked him as he made an attempt to leave without being noticed.  
  
He panicked, and froze. "Uh, I'm…"  
  
"He's going to buy some condoms," offered Misato helpfully.  
  
"Oh, really? I'll go with you," she said, glad for the chance to get outside for a few minutes.   
  
-  
  
"Don't you know anything? Those will break. Latex condoms are obsolete technology. See if they have any of those new kind that are composed of both particles and waves, like light. Now _that's_ advanced."  
  
Shinji tried to make himself a tiny as possible as Asuka lectured him. Anyone listening to them would definitely get the wrong idea.  
  
"I wonder if they have the new S2 line. They're _Strong_ and _Sheer_. You probably can't understand that much English though, right? It means they're thin and sensitive, but they're still strong, so they won't break."  
  
Shinji tried to pretend that he was just standing there. Nothing better to do. Certainly not buying condoms with the loud gaijin. He just happened to be standing in her vicinity. Yessiree.  
  
"I wonder why Nerv doesn't make condoms. I've got the perfect slogan for them; 'We _invented _original sin.' What do you think?"  
  
"Didn't you say that the original sin was eating the fruit of wisdom or something like that?" he asked, one of her recent lectures still fresh in his mind.  
  
"Well you have to use your imagination… but anyway, they don't have any special brands here. Nothing top of the line. Why do you need condoms anyway?"  
  
"Misato told me I had to."  
  
"Well, just buy anything then," she ordered him, annoyed that he hadn't thought of it sooner.   
  
He nodded, grabbing something randomly.  
  
-  
  
"So Shinji, what'd you end up buying?" Asuka asked him, as the two of them walked back towards the apartment.   
  
He handed her the box, and she inspected it. "Herzenswunsch? A German brand? Interesting." She inspected the box more closely. "Want me to translate the label for you? _When there's a beautiful German girl staying in your room for no reason._ What a coincidence. They sure did have a diverse selection there, even if they were all inferior brands. Say, why did Misato want you to buy condoms anyway?"  
  
"Well, uh… don't know really."   
  
"She didn't offer you sex, did she?" asked Asuka suspiciously.  
  
"What? Of course not!" Shinji said, loudly.  
  
"No need to get defensive. She's going to offer sooner or later you know."  
  
"Don't say that!" Shinji said, feeling the need to defend the woman. Shinji couldn't remember the last time he had defended someone. It wasn't really in his nature. But the very idea... "She wouldn't do that," he stated resolutely.   
  
Asuka glanced over at him, surprised by his tone. "What, you think she's too good for you or something? There's nothing wrong with a little age difference. I'm going to make sure Kaji doesn't die, so you should take Misato to get her out of the way."  
  
"Asuka, don't say anything else," he said, almost a threat. Misato was like a sister to him, after all. She'd always been there in the worst of times. If it wasn't for her, he probably wouldn't think his life was worth anything. He just couldn't stand the thought...  
  
"A sensitive subject huh? That just proves it."  
  
"Asuka…"  
  
"Okay, okay. Pilots Errant know when to shut up." She grinned at him, hoping he would drop his sour mood. He didn't seem affected. "Hmph."  
  
"Who's Kaji?" Shinji asked suddenly.  
  
"Oh, he took care of me while I was in college. He's cool. Unfortunately, that's how I learned so much about condoms. He really gets around. Misato's the same way… I mean, uh… oh just forget I said that last part you idiot!"  
  
Shinji nodded, not really caring anymore.  
  
  
** Chapter Eight: Of Asuka's Strange and Somewhat Humorous Letter to Kaji and the One to Whom it Is Assigned for Delivery   
**   
_ To My Most Beloved Baka, Kaji-san,  
  
In your long absence, I am wounded to my heart's core. My sweet memories of your smiling face have become bitter, and I feel deeply heartsick every time I think of you or recall something that you've said in the past. __ This emptiness that I feel inside me comes not from your absence, but from the fact that you've never seen fit to express your feelings of me, whatever they are, in words. Whatever your answer is, I'm dying to hear it. It's been so long since I've seen you, and ever since you left for Japan I've been slowly dying inside. __Anyway, I hope that _ _-you're- doing well. You're the cruelest man alive, Kaji._  
_   
Speaking of Japan, I've got some good news. I've finally made it to Tokyo-3. Now you have no excuse not to come and see me! I'm living with the Commander, of all people, but he hasn't really been around. Have I told you about him? He's the Third Children's father, and he's probably the nastiest man on the planet.   
  
A lot of things have happened since I arrived in Japan. For instance, I found the First and Third Children. Now, the Third Children is an unimpressive thing, but I see a lot of potential in him. Even though he hasn't been useful at all so far. All he ever seems to do is complain, cry, or whine. I think it'll be good to have him around though. If an angel comes along that even I can't defeat, he can just go nuts and tear it apart.   
  
"How could someone that pathetic kill an angel that even the great Second Children is helpless against?" you ask? It's simple; he's related to one of the original test pilots. His mother. Her soul was absorbed into the Unit-01 and she can actually take control of the thing and use her maternal instinct to tear the beasts apart. Pretty amazing, huh?  
  
You're probably wondering how I found the Third and First Children so quickly. It was easy. I knew them both the second I laid eyes on them. The look in Shinji's eyes, as if he feels everyone hates him, and as if he even hates himself, makes it obvious that he's the third. Not that he's the perfect Eva pilot or anything. He's almost always pathetic and spineless, with only the occasional spark. I actually had to kiss him once, but it was necessary to move things along. I'm sure you understand.   
  
The First Children is very... different. Very strange, actually. To give you an example, I'm going to have her carry this letter, but I still don't mind mentioning her in it because I'm absolutely sure she'll never read it. She doesn't care about anything that she considers mundane or unimportant. To be honest, I don't think she even cares whether she lives or dies. I'm sure that this will be evident in battle. She'll won't hesitate to sacrifice herself, I'm sure of it. _   
  
Rei frowned, and put the letter down for a moment. Asuka expected her to give up her own life at the first opportunity.   
  
_-She thinks I am suicidal?- _  
  
The idea that Asuka would assume such a thing made her feel a little uneasy. Other children had made similar comments in the past, but always with an insulting or joking tone. The words in the letter, however, were meant seriously.  
  
She picked up the letter and continued to read.  
  
_I can't say that I like Rei very much, although I do respect her. She did some spying for me at Nerv headquarters, and managed to get some very valuable information. But I still have no clue as to why she's willing to pilot. Actually, I don't really know why Shinji pilots either. Maybe they just figure it beats sitting around, doing nothing. Their lives were kind of a waste of time, you know?  
  
On another topic, I'm very worried about Seele and Nerv. They seem to be planning something very suspicious with some grotesque monstrosities that look vaguely like Evas. On top of that, they seem to be -making- pilots now. That is potentially catastrophic. For all I know, every one of those pilots could be part of the climactic final attack. Dummy plugs are one thing, but live pilots... I don't even want to think about it. I'll try not to worry too much, though, since there's not much I can do at this point. But, there is something that you can do. I'd really appreciate it if you could snoop around for me and see what you can find out. I need to know when those things are going to be built so that I have some idea of whether or not they will actually be a threat.   
  
And there's something else that bothers me. The third angel, Sachiel, attacked me four days ago. I had to fight it alone because Shinji said some nonsense about angels being friends or something. It was really strong, and I actually almost wasn't able to beat it. It was huge and black, and very strong physically, but not very impressive in the end. Now here's the weird part. I was about to kill it with my progressive knife when something very strange happened. My Eva disappeared, replaced with my own body, and the angel disappeared also, replaced with a harmless and annoying boy. The only reasonable explanation is that Seele somehow teleported the Eva and angel to some other location. I have no idea -how- this was done, but it seems to me that it's the only reasonable way to look at it. On top of that, I can't tell this story to anyone without looking like an insane idiot.   
  
As for the fourth and fifth angels, I managed to beat them both, despite the fact that they teamed up on me. I just tore the arms off of one of them and then charged straight into the other with my prog knife. I injured myself doing it, I broke my nose, but I was able beat them both at the same time. You're undoubtedly worried about my face, but there's no need. It wasn't a bad break, and it'll be good as new when it heals.   
  
Please come to see me, and tell me the words you didn't have the courage to say before.   
  
Yours Until Death,   
Asuka Langley Sohryu  
_   
Rei refolded the letter and put it back inside it's envelope.   
  
Her next task was to find a man named Kaji Ryouji, who lived somewhere in Tokyo, or, as Asuka called it, 'Tokyo-3'. Asuka hadn't been able to give her an address, instead saying that Kaji would have the 'coolest' place. Whatever that meant.  
  
Rei folded the letter and placed it inside her pocket, then turned to leave, ready to begin her mission. As she walked toward the door, it opened. Through the door walked a tall and gangling man, who wore glasses.   
  
"Rei-chan? Are you going somewhere?" he asked, surprised to see her voluntarily leaving the confines of the apartment..  
  
"Yes," she said.   
  
She stood there, waiting for him to move out of the way.  
  
"When are you... coming back?" he asked, awkwardly. He hadn't had much experience as Rei's father, and it didn't come naturally to him. Rei, despite her tendency to ignore everything he said, had never really caused him any problems in the past. The main reason for this was that he hardly ever saw her for more than a few moments. A single man with no friends, he worked nearly 15 hours a day, coming home once in the afternoon to check on his charge.   
  
"I don't know. Please move."  
  
"Now, Rei, I know I leave you alone most of the time, but I need to know these sorts of things," he insisted, almost eager to play the role of her father, if only for a moment.  
  
"I am leaving," she said, her voice remaining toneless.   
  
She silently edged past him, not meeting his inquiring eyes.  
  
He looked after her as she walked away, surprised and confused. After a moment, his face lit up in anger.   
  
"Rei!" he shouted, "Come back here!"  
  
She ignored him, knowing that he could do nothing. The only way for him to force her to stop walking would be to physically restrain her.   
  
"Rei, please stop!" he yelled desperately. She continued to ignore him, walking away from the apartment at an even pace.  
  
-  
  
Rei knocked on the door, and waited for a response. A few moments later, Shinji's father opened the door.   
  
She stared at him silently, knowing that her purpose would be self-evident.  
  
"You have come too see Shinji and Asuka. Come in," he said. His perpetually cold and solemn tone somehow made the mundane act of entering the apartment sound like a serious event.   
  
She nodded, and stepped inside.   
  
-  
  
  
"...Cervihel, who is the worst of them all, in a way. I won't be able to defeat him myself, so I hope you were paying close attention. Now, the next one, Arael, that one's not so strong. But that doesn't mean it's not dangerous. Sometimes the weakest angels are actually the most deadly. The biggest factors are _where_ they attack, and _when_ they attack, not _how_ they attack." Asuka paused in her lecture as Rei opened the door. "Oh, it's First. What are you doing here?"  
  
"I am leaving."  
  
"You're checking out with me? How thoughtful. Like an honor student or something," Asuka said, and her tone didn't make clear whether she was praising or mocking her.  
  
Rei shook her head slightly. "I have a request."  
  
"Really? What is it?" Asuka asked, a little surprised.  
  
"I need money. For expenses."   
  
"Oh? Good idea. Wouldn't want you to end up dead in a gutter somewhere." Asuka dug through her pockets and withdrew some folded bills. "It shouldn't take you more than a day to find him, but I'll give you 10,000 yen, just to be safe."   
  
Rei took the two 5000 yen notes from Asuka's outstretched hand, and turned to leave.  
  
"Wait a second. Stick around for a few minutes. I'm telling Shinji about the angels. This would be good for you to hear," said Asuka loudly before Rei could reach the exit.  
  
"Hai." Rei turned back around, and waited silently, staring at Asuka.  
  
"What are you doing? Sit down. You're making me nervous."  
  
"Nervous?" The idea that someone could be nervous to see another person standing perplexed Rei completely.   
  
"Yeah, so sit down," Asuka said.  
  
Rei obediently sat down cross-legged on the floor, eyes still fixed on Asuka.   
  
"Okay, that's better. Now, I was just about to talk about Arael. Arael doesn't attack like other angels. It attacks the pilot's mind. But the thing that makes it really dangerous is that it attacks from orbit."  
  
"How can you attack something in space?" asked Shinji.  
  
She shrugged. "We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. There are ways of doing it. Now after Arael comes Armisael. I won't even talk about Armisael. I don't want to scare the wits out of you two just yet. The final angel, Tabris, is the Angel of Free Will. It will choose by itself whether or not humanity is destroyed. We can try to kill it before it has a chance to make a decision, of course, but we probably won't be able to. Tabris is very strong."   
  
Asuka paused, and rolled her eyes upward for a moment, thinking. "And, come to think of it, that's pretty much all I should tell you about the angels right now. I guess you can go now, First."  
  
Rei stood and turned to leave once again. Once again, Asuka stopped her.   
  
"Wait a second, First. I forgot something. We're going to have to go back your place for a few minutes. Wait here, I'll be right back."  
  
Asuka stood up from the bed left the room, heading towards the bathroom door. Rei waited patiently, Shinji shifted uncomfortably, and Asuka returned a moment later with an empty steel bucket, carrying it by the handle.  
  
_ -A bucket?-_  
  
-  
  
Rei's apartment was empty when they arrived, as Rei had known would be the case.   
  
Asuka's bucket, which was now filled with mud from the lake, sat in her bathroom as the tub filled with hot water. Although Rei didn't concern herself much with the cleanliness of the apartment, even she was not comfortable having the bucket of filth inside her home.  
  
"There is one final thing that I need to add to this mission, First," said Asuka, as she turned off the water. "Watch carefully, because you're going to have to describe all of this in detail.."  
  
Asuka picked up the bucket and carried it to the bathtub, and proceeded to slowly empty it's contents into the water moving the bucket from side to side so as to distribute the mud evenly. The mud sloshed into the tub, blackening the water.  
  
After placing the bucket on the floor, Asuka stripped out of her clothes. First folding them neatly, she placed them on the floor as well, far away from the bucket. Then, without a second thought or a moment of hesitation, she hopped into the grimy and filthy water with a small splash.  
  
An instant after she'd entered the bathtub, her expression lost it's normal liveliness, and her eyes stared into the distance blankly. "Kaji-san..." she muttered. "Kaji-san..."   
  
Rei watched her in silent confusion, having no idea of what possible purpose Asuka's actions could be serving.   
  
Asuka leapt out of the tub, and her face returned to it's natural state, her normal exuberance returning. "Were you paying attention?" she asked sternly. "I'm not going to do it again. You need to tell Kaji what I just did, in specific detail. Can you do it?"  
  
"Yes." _-But why?-_  
  
"Okay, good. Don't worry about the mess, I'll clean it up. There's just one more thing..."   
  
At that Asuka, who was nude, and covered in mud, wet leaves and tiny rock chips, started doing jumping jacks.   
  
_ *fwap* _  
  
Rei blinked._  
  
*fwap*_   
  
Slighty disgusted, Rei averted her eyes._  
  
*fwap*_   
  
A tiny pebble landed on Rei's cheek.   
  
_*fwap*_   
  
"Please... stop. That is enough," said Rei, not whispering.  
  
Asuka nodded, coming to a stop. "Make sure you tell him _everything_," Asuka said sternly, "I want him to think that I've gone mad from love sickness."  
  
"Everything. Understood."   
  
End Chapter Eight   
  
  
  
  



	5. Five

**Chapter Nine: Of Asuka's Strange and Sudden Attraction to Shinji, and the Unusual Friendship That Develops Between Our Heroine and the Class Representative**  
  
Asuka lay on Shinji's bed, her eyes opened wide in apparent catatonia, her hair sprawled out beneath her, unkempt and tangled, still wet from the shower. Flecks of dirt spotted her face, despite the fact that she had just washed.   
  
Wearing only her underwear, she lay under the covers as Shinji gazed down at her.   
  
"Asuka..." he whispered. She didn't respond, except for a very slight movement of her head.   
  
Asuka had returned home from Rei's apartment completely changed. Her head, which she normally held high, dipped down to an angle that was more commonly seen with Shinji. Her eyes were lifeless, her step was uneven. Muttering under her breath, she went immediately towards the bathroom, and had remained in there for quite some time. Afterwards, having emerged from the bathroom soaking wet and almost naked, she had thrown herself onto his bed. The blankets still stuck to her body, which was wet from the shower.   
  
He called to her, asking her what was wrong, but she made no indication of having heard him. Climbing underneath the covers, seeking some kind of warmth, she didn't respond to his voice in the slightest.   
  
"Asuka...." he whispered.  
  
"Asuka...?" he said again, his voice rising to just above a whisper, almost reaching a pathetic whine.  
  
There was still no response.   
  
"Is this... for real?"  
  
He stood there silently, not knowing what to say or do.  
  
_-If this really were an anime, I'd know exactly what to do.-  
  
_He sniffled.  
_  
-I'd say, 'I love you', or 'I need you' or maybe I'd just yell, **'Wake up!'**-  
  
_He sniffled again, and wiped a newly formed tear away from his face.  
  
_-What's going on in your head? I never know what you're thinking. I don't know anything. Are you faking this right now? Are you going to sit up and start laughing at me? Make fun of me?-  
_   
_-I don't even know if 'Asuka Langley Sohryu' is your real name. I don't know you at all. Maybe no one does. Maybe...-  
  
_Asuka sat up, interrupting his introspective thoughts and causing him to gasp in surprise. Her eyes half closed in a seductive manner, she grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. He stumbled, caught by surprise, and landed on top of her, the softness of her body beneath him, the two of them separated only by the thin layer of the bed's covers.   
  
Before he could regain his feet and stammer out an apology, she caught him in an embrace.  
  
"I've been waiting so long for this..." she said, and kissed him on the lips.  
  
Eyes wide open in shock, he remained completely still as Asuka gave him the chaste yet enduring kiss, her arms wrapped around him, her hands caressing him softly. His arms, supporting his weight on the bed, slackened, and his weight pressed down gently on the girl beneath him.   
  
The kiss was unexpected, and felt very strange on his inexperienced lips. He'd always expected that the sensation of being kissed would be an intense feeling, like a jolt of electricity. The actual sensation was much different, much milder. Mild, but pleasant.   
  
Closing his eyes, he surrendered to her lips.  
  
The first kiss between them had been lost to his dreams. He had been half asleep at the time. This kiss was very different, very real; there was no denying that Asuka was serious about it, this time. When she had spoken, her voice had been sweet and full of desire.   
  
He closed his eyes, and let the chaste kiss continue to endure. He lost himself in her scent; the lingering fragrance of soap and shampoo, contrasted with the earthy smell of mud. She lifted a hand to his face, stroking his smooth cheek. She drew her hand back in surprise, but she didn't pull away from him, or disengage her lips from his. It worried Shinji for a moment that Asuka had found something strange about the feel of his face, but this anxious line of thought was soon forgotten. Her lips took precedence even over his own mountainous self doubt. So, they continued to kiss, and Asuka became more and more adventurous with each passing second.   
  
It was when Asuka's tongue managed to find it's way into Shinji's mouth that he pulled away from her, shocked by the strange, erotic and unfamiliar sensation. Her gaze met his uncertain eyes as their lips parted. Looking into her eyes, which seemed to be expressing something similar to love, a giddy joy rose up inside him, and he suddenly realized the full implications what had just happened between them..  
  
There had been no mockery in that kiss. Somehow, for some reason, Asuka wanted him. She desired him.   
  
Maybe she even loved him.  
  
"Kaji..." she said softly, "It's been so long."  
  
"Huh?"   
  
She laughed and embraced him again, her head against his chest.   
  
"It's about time you kissed me, you jerk," she said teasingly.  
  
Shinji, not knowing how to react to this, lay completely still as Asuka rubbed against him, her eyes closed peacefully. One of his legs dangled off the side of the bed and his movement was restricted by Asuka's embrace. His weight was supported only by the girl beneath him.  
  
"You made me wait for so long, and you never told me how you felt about me..." she whispered, looking up at him sadly, "I was starting to think you would ignore me forever. Why did you treat me like that, Kaji? How could you be so cruel?"  
  
"Uhh..." replied Shinji, his body stiff and unmoving as she gently caressedhis back. He had absolutely no idea what to say or do.  
  
"Kaji... don't play with me any more," she said_,_ her voice overflowing with wistful want, "I need you to tell me your true feelings, right now."  
  
"Hhu..." Shinji mumbled incoherently, as he did his best to divert his eyes from the bewitching girl that lay beneath him. She took this as an affirmative answer, and wrapped her arms around him once again.   
  
"Stay here with me tonight Kaji," she begged, "I don't... I mean... we don't have to do anything tonight, but I want you to stay here." She looked at him with pleading eyes.   
  
He opened his mouth to speak, lips quivering. "O-okay."   
  
Hearing this, Asuka temporarily released Shinji and he, ignoring everything sensible that his mind was telling him, joined her underneath the covers.   
  
Shinji, his breath coming rapidly, his face blushing hotly, tentatively draped an arm over Asuka's shoulder as she turned to face him, smiling. "Kaji, I'm so glad you're here," she cooed.  
  
She hugged him tightly, resting her head against his chest, his heart pounding it's soothing rhythm much more quickly than usual. She fell into a peaceful sleep almost immediately, listening to this unending instrument as it played.   
  
Shinji, his emotions tangled in a confused mix of terror and lust, happiness and sadness, fell into merciful sleep a long while after. -  
  
When Shinji woke, he was relieved to see that Asuka hadn't. There was no telling how long the delusion would last, and he had no idea what she would have done if she had woken up with him sleeping next to her. It didn't seem unlikely that she might have attacked him, calling him something like "Abdiel" or "Asiel".   
  
Rising from the bed with a stealth born of terror, he succeeded in not waking the girl, leaving her to her peaceful sleep.   
  
He stood there for a moment, looking on as Asuka slept, and realized that he was faced with a dilemma.  
  
If he left Asuka as she was, and let her sleep the day away, she would undoubtedly be very angry. She had made it very clear to him, after the first incident with Touji, that the two of them were not to be separated for extended periods of time.   
  
But if he woke her up, there was no telling what she might do. Her reaction could be anything; she might kiss him, she might kill him, she might behave as she usual. There was no way of predicting.   
  
Asuka had left him more confused than ever. Was she attracted to him?   
  
For a moment he allowed himself to believe that her actions from the previous night had not been initiated by delusion. Perhaps she hadn't really believed that he was 'Kaji', a person she had described as being 'cool', and had just been using that as an excuse?   
  
No, that idea was completely ridiculous.   
  
He made his decision. He would risk Asuka's wrath, and let her sleep. The school would be full of people, and would therefore be much safer.   
  
He quickly showered and dressed, and was on his way out the door when a tired voice interrupted him.  
  
"Shinji," Asuka said, yawning, "Why didn't you wake me up? We're gonna be late for school."  
  
-  
  
Shinji and Asuka walked together, unhurried despite their lateness.  
  
"I don't know how I ended up on the bed. I must've been sleepwalking or something. I had a really good dream last night, though, maybe I'll sleep there from now on. Kaji is so cool...   
  
"I'm getting really tired of going to school every day. There are so many other things I could be doing with my time. It just seems pointless. I mean, it's important that we stay close so that we can defeat the angels and everything, but... Oh, well. I guess I might as well get used to it. We've still got twelve angels to go, thirteen if you count the last one..."  
  
Shinji listened as Asuka talked endlessly, walking silently beside her.  
  
"I wish I didn't have to hang out with _you _all the time. Why can't you be more cool? I mean, I know you have to be angsty and everything, but you've got all that repressed anger... why don't you ever _use_ it? Like, maybe you could get in a fight at school or something... and then, after this guy has just beat the crap out of you, you could take it out on an angel. It would work perfectly. How about we try doing that this afternoon?"  
  
Shinji sighed. "But Asuka..."   
  
The rest of this conversation passed in a predictable fashion, with Shinji giving constant protestations as to why it would be unnecessary for him to be injured, and Asuka remaining persistent in her goal of subjecting him to some sort of injury.   
  
-  
  
The morning passed relatively peacefully as the students sat in their classrooms, until a certain message was sent to Shinji's computer screen.  
  
It read: _Shinji, bring Touji with you during lunch. I've got a plan. Don't argue, don't type anything back, just **do it**_.   
The last two words, blinking annoyingly on his screen in boldface, left him with no argument. Shinji felt that he had no choice but to do as she requested, just hoping that things would work out somehow.  
  
-  
  
"So she thought you were somebody else. Big deal," said Touji shrugging casually as the three of them walked down the school hallway, "It's happened to me a couple a' times."  
  
"But with you... she didn't..." Shinji looked away, blushing very slightly.  
  
Kensuke snickered. "Yeah, she just tried to kill him."  
  
"Twice," Touji added, "Three times if you count that time when she was shouting 'Asuka kick' and everything."  
  
"Asuka is just so..." Shinji said, trailing off. He sighed dejectedly.  
  
"Psychotic? Bitchy? Bossy? Loud? Rude?" offered Touji.  
  
"...she's just so hard to understand," said Shinji, shaking his head hopelessly.   
  
"What makes you think you have to understand her?" offered Kensuke, "If you're tired of dealing with her, just kick her out. It's your house, right?"  
  
"Kick her out...?" The idea had occurred to him, but it had passed out of his consideration so quickly that it almost seemed like a new idea, coming from someone else.   
  
"Yeah, she's bugging you, isn't she?" Touji said, "Kensuke's right. You should just kick her to the curb. Why not?"  
  
-  
  
Hikari approached the girl with more than a little trepidation.   
  
The girl had proven to be very disruptive from the first day she'd arrived. She'd also missed several days of school, and had even started a fight, if the rumors were true. Hikari felt obligated to speak to the girl personally before the teacher was forced to act on her behavior, but was a little nervous of how the girl might react. If it was true that she had picked a fight with a larger boy, then she certainly wasn't a girl to be taken lightly.  
  
"Excuse me? Sohryu?"  
  
The girl was sitting silently on a bench, seemingly lost in thought.  
  
"Call me 'Asuka'," she said, not looking in Hikari's direction.   
  
"_Asuka_, I need to talk to you," she said, taking a firm tone. She didn't take kindly to people who ignored her. In addition to being loud and disruptive, Asuka was also very rude, apparently.  
  
"What do you want?" Asuka asked, irritated, "I'm kind of distracted right now. I'm in the middle of something."  
  
"Distracted?" asked Hikari, confused, "But you're just sitting there. It's lunchtime."  
  
Asuka shrugged. "I've always got a lot on my mind. I've got a lot of responsibility, ya know?"  
  
Hikari could certainly understand that. "Responsibility? What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, I shouldn't talk about it too much. It's classified."  
  
Hikari's eyes went wide. "Really?"   
  
"Yeah," Asuka replied, casual. "I'm a very important person. I just wish I didn't always have to put up with so much whining and complaining all the time."  
  
"From who?" Hikari asked, genuinely curious.  
  
"Shinji. He always has something stupid to say. He's such a complete idiot."  
  
"Shinji?" Hikari asked, confused, "That quiet guy? I think I've seen you talking to him before."  
  
"He never does what I tell him... he always has some excuse."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"He always says, 'That's impossible,' or 'I can't do it,' or 'Are you crazy?' There's always something, you know?" said Asuka, shaking her head in remembered frustration from earlier that morning.   
  
"And, 'That's too hard for me, I can't do it.' That sort of thing?" Hikari asked, a hint of hope in her voice.  
  
"Yeah, and he's always slacking off, trying to get out of doing stuff, even when I threaten him."  
  
"I understand completely..." Hikari whispered, clasping her hands in front of her..   
  
"Hold on a second. Hey, Shinji! Over here!" Asuka yelled, spotting the boy as he turned the corner of a nearby building, flanked by his two friends.  
  
"Play along,"she whispered to Hikari,   
  
"What? What do you mean?"  
  
"Don't worry. Just play along. This is important," Asuka whispered, then turned her attention to the approaching boys. "Hey, Shinji, did you tell Touji yet?"  
  
Asuka was surprised to note that Shinji seemed to be fairly alarmed by this. She hadn't expected him to actually play along with her.  
  
"Uhh..."  
  
Asuka continued, "Hikari here has been telling me a few things, isn't that right Hikari?"  
  
"I _guess_ so..." she said, sounding very unsure of herself.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Touji, glaring at Asuka suspiciously.  
  
"Well, you see, Shinji here is a pervert," Asuka explained, "He decided that he wanted to force himself on this girl right here. It's always the quiet ones..." Hikari turned to Asuka with a shocked expression, but said nothing.  
  
"What!?" exclaimed Shinji, his eyes widening as he took a step back.  
  
"Do you really expect anyone to believe that?" asked Touji skeptically, "Everyone knows you're a nut."  
  
Asuka, reigning in her temper, turned to Shinji. "Shinji, come to my defense," she commanded.  
  
"But I..."   
  
Asuka glared at Shinji furiously, causing him to stop in mid sentence. "'Scuse us for a second," Asuka snarled, pulling Shinji aside. _  
  
_Grabbing him by the collar, she whispered harshly,_ "Listen._ If I tell you to do something, you _do it_. This isn't a game. I'm doing all the work for you anyway, so stop being _stupid_!"   
  
"Okay...!" he whispered, leaning backwards in intimidation, eyes wide with frightened innocence.  
  
She loosed his collar and turned back to the onlooking boys. Taking a haughty pose, she said, "Now, you'll have to deal with Shinji."  
  
Kensuke suppressed his laughter, but Touji did not.   
  
"You've gotta be kidding me, psycho girl!" he said, laughing boisterously, "You really think you can make me and Shinji fight?"  
  
"Shut up!" she said, her voice rising in pitch, "This is important! You two don't have a choice!"  
  
"Um... Asuka?" Hikari said, speaking in a soft, hesitant voice. "I don't think there's a reason for anyone to be fighting..."  
  
"You too Hikari? Well, fine then!" she said angrily, and grabbed Shinji by the shirt again. "If no one else is willing to help me... I'll kick his ass myself!"  
  
"Now hold on a second," said Touji, cracking his knuckles, "I don't think ANYONE is going to be kicking Shinji's ass today."  
  
Hikari, looking back and forth between Shinji, Asuka and Touji, was very confused. "Asuka, I really don't think you two should fight."  
  
"It wouldn't _be_ a fight," Asuka argued, "I'm just gonna slap him around a little bit."  
  
Shinji awkwardly stood with his hands at his sides, insulted, but not willing to antagonize the girl, who was behaving even more strangely than usual.  
  
"Asuka..." Shinji said, giving her a pleading look.   
  
"Hey, don't blame me," she said, letting go of him and holding up her hands, "Someone's got to do it, or you'll never be any use against the angels."  
  
"Hold on a second," said Kensuke, finally speaking, "I've got an idea. You just need Shinji to get in a fight, right?"  
  
"Kensuke..." said Touji, shaking his head in disbelief, "Are you actually trying to _reason_ with her?"  
  
"Just hear me out," he insisted. "What if Touji just punches Shinji once or twice in the face? Would that be okay?"  
  
"Now just hold on right there..." said Touji, giving his friend a nasty look, "Don't just go making deals like that. No one's gonna be hittin' Shinji tod-"  
  
"That'd be just fine," interrupted Asuka. "Twice would be good."  
  
Hikari rose to her feet and sighed, closing her eyes. She opened them, and spoke with her best authoritative tone, "Listen you guys, I really didn't want to have to do this, but I can't let there be any fighting here. If you're going to fight, do it outside of school."  
  
"No, it's okay," insisted Asuka, "This is official pilot business. Somebody has to kick Shinji's ass. The world is at stake here."  
  
"This is the girl that was getting all lovey-dovey with you last night, Shinji?" asked Touji doubtfully, "Seems like she's got it in for ya now."  
  
Hearing this, Asuka became slightly confused and very suspicious. "Shinji," she said, her voice level, "What exactly have you been telling your friends about me?"  
  
-  
  
Shinji and Asuka walked home, Shinji with a very noticeable purplish bruise on his right cheek.  
  
"Well, I guess it all worked out in the end, you know?" said Asuka, shrugging.   
  
"Yeah," muttered Shinji, his eyes on the pavement.  
  
  
End Chapter Nine  
  
  
Thanks go to Autophage and Backspaced for pre reading.   
  
  
  



	6. Six

Chapter Ten: In Which Shinji Reveals His Reluctance to Join Asuka in her Search for the Sixth Angel  
  
It was a crisp, sweet summer morning in August on the mainland. The pines and cedars, awash with the sun's glorious half-lit flames, simmered gracefully amongst the swirling clouds in the upper atmosphere; lit like iridescent stones, they silently beckoned to all timid creatures who would otherwise have no excuse to linger. The cherry trees and innumerable ferns painted their dusky greens and reds in swathing streaks, as if brushed with a clumsy hand, across the hazy cloud-dimmed horizon; the bitter-sweet memories of cherry blossoms withered away into the far reaches of the mountain tops in so many sun-flecked specks, accompanied by the heavy earthy fragrance of rain tossed soil. Far in the empty sky a solitary esophagus slept upon motionless wing; everywhere brooded stillness, serenity, and the peace of God.  
  
This inspiring scenery was largely ignored by our two protagonists as they walked through the city of Tokyo, heading towards adventure unknown and previously unimagined. Shinji trailed behind Asuka, who was walking with a purposed quickness.   
  
"Asuka, slow down for a second!" Shinji cried in protest as she walked onward, ignoring him, "We can't just _leave_!"  
  
"We're not 'just leaving'," she explained, not even giving him a backward glance, "I already asked the Commander if we could go, and he said it was okay."  
  
Hearing this, Shinji paused in mid step. Although the fact that his father had allowed the girl to stay in their home, and in his room specifically, had been very surprising, allowing the two of them to go wandering off to God-knows-where was simply unbelievable. The only explanation was that his father had lost his mind completely. Unless she was lying…  
  
"But why?" he asked, catching up to walk beside her, "I mean... where are we going?"  
  
"The pacific," she answered simply. "We can't expect all the angels to just come right to us. Some of them have to be baited."  
  
"But I think…" Shinji began, his words of protest dying before they were articulated. It was obvious that Asuka was intent on doing whatever she planned to do, and Shinji knew that anything he said would only delay the inevitable, at best.  
  
"But you think _what_?" Asuka asked, irritated. "If you don't have any questions, just be patient and wait until we get there."  
  
After a short moment of silence, Shinji nodded complacently (though Asuka wasn't looking in his direction and therefore had no idea that he had responded) and sighed. He didn't ask 'Why are we heading for the Pacific Ocean on foot?' or 'How did you convince my father to let us go?' or even 'How are we going to bait the Angel into attacking us?' He just followed behind her and prepared himself for whatever troubles she intended to bring down on them.  
  
"Well, if you insist on knowing every single minute detail," Asuka said sarcastically, shaking her head in feigned frustration, "We're going after Gaghiel. The presence of Unit-02 should be enough to draw him out once we get deep enough into the Pacific, and then the two of us can defeat it. We just have to get a ship to take us out there."  
  
"Gaghiel?"  
  
"I already told you this" she said, rolling her eyes, "The Sixth Angel. It's one of the biggest and hardest to fight. It has huge teeth and it'll probably try to swallow us whole."  
  
"Umm… do you have a plan… or something…?" Shinji asked hesitantly, not wanting to lend credence to her madness by once again pretending to accept her wild explanations and imaginary delusional fantasies, but still curious.  
  
"Well, I figure it'll be easy enough," she said, shrugging, "Once I show them Unit 02 they'll have to help us out. Who could turn down NERV? They'll be scared out of their minds. So we can just use some random… fishing freight or something."  
  
"But… shouldn't we be going towards Tokyo Bay then?" he suggested timidly.  
  
She turned, and glared at him angrily, again stopping him in his tracks. "Shinji, how can you be this ignorant about your _own damn city__!_?" she demanded loudly, pointing her finger at his chest, "Tokyo Bay was in_ Old Tokyo_. You live in _Tokyo-3_. Are you stupid?"  
  
"S-sorry…" he said, "I just thought that…"  
  
"If that's the kind of thing you're going to say, you should stop thinking and just do what I tell you." She closed her eyes and sighed deeply, arms folded across her chest. "Dealing with you is so tiring sometimes."  
  
Disdainfully, she turned her back on him and proceeded forward, with Shinji following close behind. They walked onward for several moments, in awkward silence, before Shinji dared to speak again. "Uh, Asuka…?"  
  
She came to an abrupt stop, almost causing Shinji to walk right into her. "_What_."  
  
He reconsidered his decision to speak, but decided that he had no choice but to continue. "Uh, where exactly is 'Unit Zero Two'?"  
  
She resumed walking, and spoke in a loud, clear voice, "Nerv has it, of course. I can't exactly carry it around in my pocket."  
  
"But then, how are we going to use it, if Nerv has it?"  
  
She glanced back at him, smiling a little. She seemed well prepared for the question. "I worked it all out with the Commander. Don't worry about it."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Again, she had worked it out with 'The Commander'. Once again, his father had agreed to her demands. Why?  
  
"Hurry up, Shinji. Stop lagging behind."  
  
His father, who never seemed to listen to a word that _he_ said, was just willing to do whatever Asuka wanted? She could stay in his room, go to his school, take him away from the city… and he even agreed to provide her with an imaginary robot!  
  
"Shinji? Come on, let's go."  
  
His cheek still stung from her slap, a slap that was completely undeserved. She had, in fact, been the one to initiate the kiss and he hadn't actually lied to his friends about anything. She was the one that caused all the problems, but she was always yelling at him, as if _he_ was to blame.   
  
"Are you even listening to me!?"  
  
"_You should just kick her to the curb_," his friend had said, the previous day. It made sense. Asuka was trouble. She was insane. Period.  
  
"Stop ignoring me!"  
  
Swallowing thickly, Shinji spoke in a voice that was shakily semi-firm, "Asuka… I don't want to go."  
  
"You don't want to go? Why the hell not?"  
  
Many brusque answers came to mind in regard to that particular question, but he chose a milder reply instead. "I… just don't want to. Just go without me."  
  
Asuka whipped about, almost snarling. "What the hell is wrong with you anyway!?" she shouted, sounding genuinely angry.  
  
Shinji, confronted with this sudden anger, hesitated to answer. "I… sorry…"  
  
"There's always _something_ with you, isn't there?" she continued, eyes gleaming, "_You're the worst Third Children I could've picked._ You'd be lucky if I even let you stay on after trying to pull this crap."  
  
"But I don't even want to be a pilot anymore!" he protested, his voice rising to a characteristic whine.  
  
"Oh, for God's sake… this is no time to start asking 'why do I pilot' or whatever. You can be angsty all you want after you actually kill an angel or two. Until then, shut the hell up. We are _going_ to find the Sixth Angel, and kill it. Understand?"  
  
"Yeah, I understand that, but..." he began, ignoring the instincts that screamed at him to back down from the confrontation, but trailing off as he realized that he had forgotten what he was going to say.  
  
"But what?"   
  
"But it just doesn't seem like any of these angels are real," he said quickly, "I mean, you haven't actually fought any of them, have you? It was Touji the whole time, right?"  
  
She sighed deeply. "It's really simple Shinji. Seele has been using me to defeat the angels, but they obviously can't let it become public knowledge that the Angels actually exist. So they're using this kid, Touji, and some kind of mass hypnosis or something, so it appears as if I'm attacking him in an insane rage. What is it that you don't understand?"  
  
"But then, how is it that-"  
  
"Stop asking stupid questions!" she demanded sharply, cutting him off.  
  
It was enough to silence him, but Asuka couldn't let the argument end in such a manner. Her bullying words would seem to betray a weakness in her argument, which, already ended, could be considered a loss.  
  
"Listen, Shinji. We don't know much about Seele, but we know they're willing to do almost anything to achieve their goals. Why is it so hard for you to believe that they can fool a person's senses? If you'd have just trusted me, rather then whining and complaining about having to attack your friends or whatever, I might not have gotten injured in my battle with Ramiel. There were two of us and two angels, but I had to take them both on. You need to start pulling your own weight."   
  
"I'm doing my best…" he muttered.  
  
"If that was true, you'd at least _try_ to do what I tell you."  
  
"I can't help it, Asuka. I can't help what I see…" he said, desperate to make her understand his argument in any context.  
  
"I'm doing my best. I can't help it," she mocked, "You don't understand at all. No matter how much your father ignores you, no matter how much Rei confuses you, no matter how much I yell at you, you should always be able to take down angels," she explained, "That's what being Third Children means. You're supposed to think that defeating Angels is the only thing you're good for. That's where the angst comes in, understand?"  
  
"But…"  
  
She shook her head in frustration, speaking loudly as she marched off once again, "Enough already! What's the quickest way out of the city? The train, right?"  
  
"Well, I think we'd have to take a bus first…"  
  
"Whatever. Just lead the way, for once."  
  
-  
  
"Strange that it's so empty, this time of day…" Asuka commented.  
  
Shinji blinked, and looked back and forth as if to confirm that the people that populated the bus hadn't mysteriously vanished. The two of them had taken the last two available seats.  
  
"Huh? What do you mean? It's not empty."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "The driver doesn't count, stupid."  
  
Before Shinji could respond Asuka, who sat opposite of Shinji, pinned him down with an intense look. Shinji squirmed under her scrutiny, shifting in his seat.  
  
"Why do you pilot Eva, Shinji?" she asked suddenly.  
  
He blinked, understandably confused. "Uh… what?"  
  
She snorted derisively. "Liar. You pilot it for your own sake."  
  
"But, I didn't even…"  
  
Her eyes softened, and her voice turned sweetly sympathetic. "Isn't it painful? You could just run away. It's okay to run away, if it's painful."  
  
"But, weren't you just saying that-"  
  
Then, in a judgemental voice, "Do you hate your father?"  
  
"What does that have to do with-"  
  
"Did you try to understand him?"  
  
"But… I mean…"  
  
A sexy and seductive whisper, "Do you want to become one with me?"  
  
"Asuka, please stop teasing me," he said, though he was pretty sure that she wasn't.  
  
"I hate you. I hate everyone!" she shouted, bringing her hands to her face.  
  
Shinji glanced from side to side nervously, knowing that Asuka was drawing the attention of the other passengers.  
  
"Almost as much as I hate myself…" she whispered, her voice trembling in a contained sob. Wetness dripped down one of her palms, and onto her wrist.  
  
Shinji, struck by the sickened sadness in her voice, stared at her in concern, the other passengers quickly forgotten.  
  
_Could this the real Asuka that I'm seeing right now?_  
  
No, the pain in her voice didn't mean anything. She'd already made her motives clear. She wanted to be some angst drenched, world saving heroine in a pretend story. Letting her emotions run wild; angry one moment, sad the next, she was just living out her fantasy.  
  
_It's just the same as always. Another delusion. I can't ever trust-_  
  
Her toneless voice interrupted his thoughts, "The beginning of a new day… the beginning of another horrible day."  
  
Shinji couldn't help but agree. His expression became glumly downcast, matching Asuka's own, and he resolved to ignore the rest of her ramblings.  
  
"Hey, Shinji."  
  
Upon raising his head, it seemed as though Asuka had dropped out of whatever strange mood had temporarily overcame her; her expression was one that could be considered average.   
  
"Shinji, you're gonna do what I tell you this time, right?" she asked him, with practiced concern and confidence, "I need to be able to trust you. Angels are serious business, you know?"  
  
It was quite strange that she had gone from completely deranged to halfway sensible in such a short time, and this served as a reminder of exactly why it was that Shinji didn't want to go after this next 'Angel' at all. He didn't respond and didn't meet her eyes, knowing that his silence would express his intentions well enough.  
  
She glared at him sternly. "Shinji, I'm serious about this.  
  
"Asuka… t-to tell the truth…" Shinji began, but stopped as he realized that Asuka was no longer paying any attention to him. For some reason, she was staring out the window behind him.   
  
"Leliel…" she whispered.  
  
"What?"  
  
Asuka stood up and quickly started toward the front of the bus, shouting back at Shinji, "It's the Twelfth Angel! Come on!"  
  
Shinji blinked in confusion, and then stumbled after her. She moved very quickly, shoving past the standing passengers without a thought, and yelled something at the driver. He nearly lost his balance when the bus came to an abrupt stop.  
  
"Get moving! I don't want to lose it!" Asuka shouted from the sidewalk.  
  
"I'm coming!" he said, slowly making his way past the passengers.   
  
"Damn it!" she yelled, and took off running. "Just catch up to me!"  
  
-  
  
_ Asuka moved with as much speed as she could muster through her Eva's legs. A beautiful yet horrific beast, she bounded through the abandoned streets of Tokyo-3, chasing what she knew to be Leliel, the Twelfth Angel.  
  
Leliel was a great dark sphere in the sky, to all appearances, but the true danger lay in it's shadow; the Sea of Dirac. It was a beast born of mathematics._  
  
  
Shinji desperately ran after Asuka, who was moving quite fast, running through the crowded streets of Tokyo as if they were empty. Those who didn't move out of her way were rudely shoved aside, and Shinji had a bad feeling Asuka was going to end up getting stabbed, or worse, as a result of her rude behavior.  
  
  
_ "Shinji? Where are you?" Asuka asked, opening up a secure communications channel. There was no response. Not that it was particularly surprising that Shinji had left her high and dry again...  
  
Cursing, she renewed her efforts to catch the Angel, which was getting nearer with each passing second. Gritting her teeth, she took a final leap towards the sphere's shadow, and was enveloped in its wet, cold blackness..._  
  
  
Shinji caught sight of Asuka and then lost her again as she crested the slope of a hill, having run into a park. She was a good quarter mile ahead of him, and was nowhere to be found by the time he had caught up. He had no idea where she might have gone.  
  
-  
  
A cold shiver ran through Misato's body as the phone rang. That was never a good sign.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
Gendou Ikari's voice answered her, and he seemed uncharacteristically hurried in his speech. _"Captain Katsuragi, I have another proposal for you."_  
  
"Mr. Ikari? What is it? You want me to watch Shinji and that girl again?"  
  
_ "Not exactly. This is an urgent matter, actually. That girl that you just spoke of has run off with my son."  
_  
"Oh my. Have you called the police?"  
  
_ "No. I do not wish to involve the police in this. I want **you** to find them for me, Captain."  
_  
"You want me to... find them? I don't have any experience with that sort of thing."  
  
_ "I don't care. They probably haven't gone far. I will cover any and all expenses, of course. Do you agree?"  
_   
"I really don't think I'm the one that you should be-"  
  
_ "Captain, there are only three people that I would trust with a task such as this. The first is my wife, the second is you, and the third is Jesus."  
_  
Misato blinked. "Jesus?" The fact that he'd mentioned his dead wife was equally peculiar.  
  
_ "From what I've read, he tends to make the right decisions."_  
  
Misato sighed. "I think I understand, sir. I'll do my best."  
  
_ "Good. I don't have much information for you, but I assume that this girl won't be too difficult to find, based on her past behavior."_  
  
-  
  
_ -Why is it that the Twelfth Angel was attacking so soon? What happened to trigger it?-  
  
Having been swallowed up in the Sea of Dirac, Asuka had a bit of time on her hands. She was hungry, tired, and bored. It seemed as though hours had passed since the Angel had swallowed her, and her only comfort was the knowledge that it was only a matter of time before she broke out of the mathematical prison. Until then, she had plenty of time to consider the situation._  
  
_ -Will they just designate it as the Sixth Angel, despite the fact that it showed up months early? Not that it would've taken months for it to show up anyway...-  
  
The angels were showing up much quicker than they should have been. There were so many factors that were incongruous with what she knew to be correct. For instance, though she didn't like to admit it, it should have been Shinji who won most of the battles against the Angels.  
  
She was the best pilot, of course, but Shinji was supposed to be the one that made her doubt herself as a pilot, up until the climactic scene in which she would prove herself. How was she supposed to achieve true greatness without a rival? She was the best pilot, but only by default. There was no one to judge herself against, and it was starting to seem a little pointless.  
  
-How long is this going to take anyway? It's freezing in here!-  
  
Once she started running out of oxygen, and started freezing to death, her mother would come to help her. Of course. if she took into consideration that it was Shinji's mother that had acted before...   
  
Despite the fact that she obviously cared for him very much, she hadn't reached out to him until death was approaching. Could be that her mother would react different?   
  
On deeper consideration, it was definitely possible that her mother wouldn't react at all, and would simply let her die in the Sea of Dirac._  
  
  
"ASUKA!" Shinji called out. Having searched for more than an hour without finding a trace of her, he was starting to grow desperate. He had searched every corner of the park and hadn't found a trace of her, so the only possibility that he could think of was that she had kept on running after whatever phantasm she was chasing, and was miles away. It was growing dark, and he'd have to leave soon, whether he'd found her or not. The possibility that she had been kidnapped (and was now in a situation more reminiscent of a hentai doujinshi than a mecha anime), was something that he didn't care to consider.  
  
It was sort of a relief, in a way, since it meant that his decision ha been made for him, but he couldn't help feeling guilty. He couldn't help feeling somewhat responsible for her safety, having fed her fantasy for so long. Sighing, he collapsed to his knees, unmindful of the rough gravel that surrounded the pond.  
  
"Mama..."  
  
His head snapped up at the sound of the faint voice. It had been muffled, and he couldn't be sure that it was Asuka, but he couldn't be sure that it wasn't either.  
  
"Mama..."  
  
The voice, a little bit louder that time, definitely belonged to Asuka.  
  
"Asuka?" Shinji called out, "Where are you?"  
  
"I don't want to die... I don't want to die..."  
  
In the failing light, Shinji hadn't noticed that there was some sort of black rubber flotation device floating at the edge of the pond. It had been carelessly discarded there, and that seemed to be where the sound was coming from. Shinji chuckled as he realized that Asuka had been floating in the pond the entire time that he'd been searching the other areas of the park.  
  
"Asuka?" Shinji said, reaching towards the mass of rubber.  
  
"Gah!" he cried out, as he was splashed with cold pond water. Asuka had begun to thrash around in the water, frightening all the fishes that were swimming nearby. The rubber, still covering her body entirely except for one of her legs, contorted and twisted as she moved about wildly, and she seemed to be trying to tear her way out.  
  
She screamed with a trembling fury as she struggled against the inanimate device, finding purchase on the pond's bottom with her legs. She rose out of the water, the black thing still covering her upper half, and, breathing deeply in animalistic rage, threw it off of her, dashing it into the water with both hands. Lit up with livid anger, she shook uncontrollably.  
  
Clenched her fists with an almost inaudible cracking sound, she held held them in front of her, as if summoning up some great energy from deep within. Then, as her face contorted with rage, she closed her eyes and let out something like a war cry. She shouted until her voice weakened, paused for breath, and then began shouting again. Her voice, stronger than Shinji had ever heard it, was frightening. He could only watch and listen in mute terror as the drenched girl shrieked like some kind of horrific red haired pond demon.  
  
End Chapter Ten  
  
  
  
Thanks goes to LeperMessiah for Pre reading.   
  
The last sentence of the first paragraph in this chapter ("Far in the empty sky a solitary esophagus slept upon motionless wing; everywhere brooded stillness, serenity, and the peace of God.") is plagiarized from Samuel Clemins' "A Double Barrelled Detective Story." The rest of that first paragraph is merely an imitation of the words preceding that stolen sentence.  



	7. Seven

Chapter Eleven: Of Misato's Short Search for the Two Wayward Children and What Happened Afterwards   
  
If Shinji hadn't dragged Asuka out of the water, she probably would have drowned. Kneeling on the graveled shore, he looked on as she slept, unable to forget the sound of her tormented screaming. Shinji kept silent as he watched her, feeling an ever-growing sense of guilt as all of his conjectures and assumptions from just hours previous were wiped away.   
  
Her insanity remained a mystery, and he knew it was more than just simple self-delusion. She was hiding something painful inside.   
  
_ I'm back where I started, Asuka. I don't know you at all._  
  
Eventually, she would wake, and there was no telling what would happen afterwards.  
  
-  
  
Misato didn't think that it was likely to accomplish anything but, having received the task of recovering Asuka and Shinji, and knowing that there wasn't much else to do, she decided to let her legs do what work they could. This isn't to say that she thought it would really accomplish anything. What were the chances, after all, that she would take the same precise path of travel as the two children? Furthermore, what were the chances that whomever she talked to, though they, by some miracle, were in the right spot to have seen the two wayward brats, would have actually been paying attention at the right moment? And this convenient person would, on top of that, happen to know where the children might be found, even approximately?   
  
Gendou Ikari seemed to think that the girl's antics would draw attention to the two of them, but Asuka would have to do something extremely noticeable, and something that would come to Misato's attention even as she searched for them.  
  
"Excuse me sir," Misato said politely, handing the hastily drawn composite sketch to the ramen stand owner, "Have you seen this girl?"   
  
The man examined the sketch for a moment. "Yeah, I think I saw this girl. Red hair, right? She came charging past here. Everyone saw her. She looked like she was being chased by a devil or somethin'."  
  
"Really?" Misato asked, incredulous that the reality of the situation went against her recent considerations so ironically. It was a welcome and convenient surprise.   
  
He examined the sketch again, and nodded. "Yeah, she went down that way, by the lake. But that was hours ago. I don't have any idea where she might a' gone from there though."  
  
Misato's sudden elation vanished as it became apparent that she wasn't all that much closer to finding them than before. Still, she knew which direction they were traveling in, hours previous. It was something.  
  
-  
  
_ Asuka… _  
  
She looked so weak. So different.  
  
_ You can't hide anything now, is that it? When you sleep, you can't hide things you don't want people to see? _  
  
She was shivering from the cold, curled up on the ground in front of him. Her fingertips were wrinkled from the water.   
  
It didn't seem right. The fact that she would betray weakness, even in sleep, seemed very wrong somehow.   
  
If she was awake, she wouldn't stay in the water long enough for her skin to wrinkle, and she would mask her shivers. And she didn't do it just because she was a pilot... that could only be an excuse, right?  
  
A chill wind blew from across the pond, causing Asuka to curl up further into a fetal position.  
  
_She's **afraid **of weakness, and in the end she's... just a child. She kills these 'Angels', but it doesn't mean anything to anyone besides herself. She talks about all this stuff like it's real, and she's got all the details worked out. But why is she always talking about 'Kaji'? _  
  
'Kaji' probably didn't even exist.   
  
She talks about how cool he is, but her parents… she hardly talks about them at all.   
  
_'Mama', she said before. Asuka called for her mother when she thought she was going to die. Her mother killed herself, but she talks about it so casually... as if it's not a big deal at all. But that can't be true. That's the reason she acts like this. It must be. That's when this whole thing must've started._  
  
He reached out and stroked her cheek, overcome with emotion and not particularly worried of what would happen if she woke up.   
  
I think I understand you now, Asuka. You run away from reality, because you know you can't really trust anyone. They'll always leave you, just like your mother left you.   
  
He leaned forward, bringing his face close to hers, as if to whisper something in her ear.   
  
I'm sorry, Asuka. I had no right to want to get rid of you. Maybe... maybe you can help me, once I've helped you. I think I want to kiss you again. Your breasts are so...   
  
Shinji had a sudden spasm in a fit of sexual repression, driving all perverse thoughts from his mind. He closed his eyes tightly, shedding tears of helplessness.  
  
_Even at a time like this, I'm so weak. Every day, you deal with this harsh reality so bravely, fighting it off like it's one of those imaginary angels. When it comes down to it, only you can defeat reality itself.  
_  
A single tear dripped down his face, and he clutched at it, as if hiding it; as if wanting it to disappear. Crying in self-pity wouldn't help him, not if he wanted to make some sort of personal breakthrough with his internal emotional ramblings.  
  
_ Your mother left you of her own free will, and abandoned you. I may be weak, in so many ways, but I can't leave you like she did. _  
  
Though self-disgust threatened to overcome him again, he repressed it long enough to utter one last noble thought.  
  
_I swear that I never will. **Never.**_  
  
This vow, though very ill informed and made on the spur of the moment, was as well meant as any vow ever taken by a teenage boy in a fit of angst. Though one may laugh at Shinji for his presumptions, I think no one can fault our dear perverted and oft overly emotional friend for making this heartfelt vow.   
  
It is mildly unfortunate that Misato chose this time to stumble upon the two of them, with Shinji weeping as he knelt in front of Asuka's supine form.   
  
"Shinji? What happened to her?" Misato cried, at first glance thinking the girl to be drowned.  
  
Shinji sniffled embarrassedly and wiped his face. "S-She's okay," he stuttered, "She's j-just been lying in the water. She's asleep."  
  
Misato let out a relieved breath, and then gave Shinji a slightly puzzled look. "Lying in the water? I guess that shouldn't surprise me at all..."  
  
Shinji stood awkwardly. "She was running after another angel and she ended up here," he explained, his face slightly turned away in embarrassment, "It took me a long time to find her."  
  
Misato nodded. "It didn't take me very long to find you two at all, though. It's kind of funny." She shrugged. "What the hell are you two doing anyway? Your father told me she kidnapped you."  
  
Shinji blinked in confusion. "Kidnapped? But she said she asked his permission…"   
  
Misato sighed in frustration, and then softly reprimanded him, "And you believed her? Why would your father do that?"  
  
"Well…"  
  
"Shinji, your father _does_ care about you. He wouldn't have sent me after you if he didn't."  
  
"Then…" Shinji paused in uncertainty and continued, "Then why did he let Asuka stay…? I told him she was crazy…"  
  
Misato smiled, and placed a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "Maybe he's just glad to see that someone wants to be your friend."  
  
Shinji looked downward and to the side, turning away from both Misato's warm face and her comforting hand.   
  
"Shinji?" she asked, concerned, "Is this really bothering you so much? Is this girl really that troubling to you?"  
  
"It's not just Asuka," he admitted quietly, "I think it's… everything."  
  
"Shinji, your father isn't trying to hurt you. He's a hard man to understand," she assured him. "But… he still has your best interests at heart."  
  
-  
  
Gendou was not at all pleased. "Fuyutsuki, you know what a security breach means. You know just as well as I do."  
  
"Ikari… don't blow this out of proportion. It was just an accident. There's no reason to assume it was a _security breach_."  
  
"You do not understand. I cannot underemphasize the importance of the loss of a few rudimentary designs; however, I cannot _over_emphasize the importance of security in this matter."  
  
Fuyutsuki sighed. "You're taking this far too seriously. It's not as if it would mean the end of the world…"  
  
"It would be the end of the world, I'm afraid. As we know it, anyway."  
  
Fuyutsuki smirked, and gave his overly serious friend an odd look. "I think you like animation a bit too much. You could always make _real_ movies, you know. It's not like anyone takes this seriously any more."  
  
"No. My plan must not fail." Gendou firmly placed his hands on his desk, and rose to his feet. "If the script is mishandled, or if it even becomes public knowledge that a script exists, the entire project will be at risk. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."  
  
Gendou turned and spoke one last time before exiting.  
  
"My productions will save this genre."  
  
-  
  
"Shinji, are you ready to go?" Misato asked, somewhat impatiently.  
  
Shinji, looked down at the unconscious girl, recalled her words from before, something like, 'We can't expect all the angels to come to us; some of them have to be baited.' He recalled her pained words on the 'empty' bus. He recalled the plea to her mother that had finally revealed her location in the pond. He recalled the disturbing shriek that she made bursting up from the clear water.   
  
Coming to a decision, he spoke without lifting his eyes from the face of the insensible, unconscious girl, "Misato, can you... go without me?"  
  
Shinji had come to a decision, and had sworn to do something. He wasn't entirely sure what it was he had sworn to do, but he didn't think it involved confronting Asuka with her lie, as his father would almost certainly do. After that, it was likely that everything would come to an end, and the two of them would be separated, one way or another.   
  
"Shinji," Misato said somberly, "Do you know what you're saying? Don't you realize this is just like what happened with Rei? Asuka is a lost cause."  
  
"That's so cold, Misato..."  
  
She shrugged. "That doesn't change the fact that it's true, Shinji."  
  
A groan from below interrupted Shinji before he could answer, as Asuka stirred from sleep.   
  
"God, my head hurts…" she mumbled, "At least I didn't have to rely on my damned mother like you…"  
  
Asuka opened her eyes, and blinked a few times before dragging herself to her feet. She spent a few bleary moments coming to full awareness before noticing Misato.   
  
"Your name is… Katsuragi, right? What are you doing here?"  
  
"Shinji's father sent me after you two," Misato said coldly, eyeing the girl with plain suspicion, "Shinji tells me you claimed that you were given permission to leave. His father didn't seem to be aware of anything like that."  
  
Asuka nodded, and crossed her arms in front of her with impudence, "He approved of it. He approved the whole thing."   
  
Shinji coughed nervously. "Um, well, now that that's cleared up…"  
  
Misato raised her eyebrows at him, and he blushed slightly, looking away. Asuka, ignoring the exchange, shook her head vehemently. "No way. I don't have to stand for this. Not even the almighty Commander himself gets away with telling lies about Asuka Langley Sohryu."   
  
Misato's grim expression lightened somewhat at Asuka's sincere indignation, and she smiled in amusement. "I'll give you kids a ride," she offered.   
  
Asuka, having obtained a new objective at that point, was glad to accept.  
  
-  
  
"Mrs. Akagi, you are now given sole responsibility of the project, as Mrs. Katsuragi is presently indisposed." Gendou said, speaking very formally.  
  
Ritsuko's only response was a malicious, evil grin.  
  
"I think you understand the importance of this, Doctor," he said, "And, despite what Fuyutsuki may think, you are more than capable of handling it."  
  
"Yes, sir," she said, eyes full of eagerness, "I won't allow any mistakes."   
  
"See that you don't," he said, turning towards the exit, "I must leave now. I have things to attend to."  
  
Ritsuko was well aware of the incident with the preliminary sketches, and what that would mean for her. Fuyutsuki, the one who seemed to take such pleasure in stripping her duties away from her, had made an unforgivable mistake.   
  
This meant that the project would likely fall squarely on her shoulders, and Misato, late to arrive, would be nothing more than an aide. If Misato ever decided to show up, that is.   
  
She suppressed an evil cackle, knowing that such a thing would be frowned upon in the office space.   
  
-  
  
Having arrived at the Ikari residence with the two others, Asuka strode into the Commander's dimly lit study, approaching him with the usual fast beating heart and stoic expression that she used for their short encounters.  
  
"Yes, Sohryu?" he asked, his voice sounding casual and almost innocent.  
  
A little put off by this strange tone, but not nearly removed from her task, she spoke brashly, "Commander, why did you send Katsuragi after us? You already approved the operation... what happened?"  
  
A feeling of indistinct discomfort ran through her as the man, now smirking malignantly, leaned forward and bridged his hands under his nose, hiding his expression.   
  
"I have my reasons."  
  
"Sir. Isn't it true that defeating Angels is our highest priority?" she asked, raising her voice a little, "How can you just arbitrarily do something like this?"  
  
"As I said, Sohryu, I have my reasons. There is more at stake here than you realize."  
  
"But… you approved of the whole thing! Why just suddenly take it back?"  
  
"I'm afraid you have misunderstood my intentions. My exact words were, 'I will consider it,' if I remember correctly."  
  
Asuka gave him a confused look, then, quickly resumed her soldier-like façade, stated firmly, "When an evil, shady person like you says 'I will consider it' in that tone of voice, it's the same thing as saying 'Yes'."   
  
There was silence for moment, broken by a short, well-mannered chuckle from Gendou.   
  
Asuka, wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the sight of this gesture, was sure that he had something fiendish in mind. Laughter from him, something that no one could have foreseen, could only signal that he was considering some evil plan. He was not a villain given to laughter, however, not even when the grandest of his plans came to fruition, and this gave the impression that the situation was very dire indeed.   
  
"That's why you don't care about the angels," she whispered, 'You're about to bring out those leviathans, aren't you?"  
  
It all became suddenly clear. Rei would never be killed by the Sixteenth Angel, and would never betray Gendou. Tabris, hopelessly outmatched against both Rei and the new series, and not _really_ a threat anyway, would be easily disposed of. Though Tabris wasn't quite their last ditch effort, Seele would not have any way of preventing Gendou from initiating the Third Impact with Rei, thus reuniting himself with Yui. Somehow, he had gained the resources to make this new series of Eva, this series that would gain him everything he desired…  
  
"The new series is already completed, isn't it!?" she demanded.  
  
"No." he said, his good humor vanishing in an instant, "Where did you hear this?"  
  
"Oh, I know everything," she hissed, "You don't need me anymore, do you? It doesn't matter. I know you still need Rei."  
  
Gendou said nothing.   
  
"Rei is under my command," Asuka confidently informed him, "so you better watch yourself. If anything happens to me, you might find her a lot less willing to be your puppet."  
  
A slight smile touched his taciturn visage. "I have no intention of having you killed, girl."  
  
Asuka nodded grimly. "I guess you still want me to kill Angels, then. Fine."  
  
Without another word, Asuka turned and left the room, feeling the uncomfortable press of Gendou's eyes against her back as she did so.  
  
-  
  
"You're just feeding her fantasy, Shinji. You have to put an end to this," Misato said sternly.  
  
Shinji and Misato stood in the living room as Asuka confronted Gendou, and Misato took the opportunity of her absence to lecture the boy.  
  
"I know you feel some responsibility towards her," she said, "Don't try and deny it. I saw the look on your face back at the park."  
  
"Is it wrong to feel responsible?" he asked, "I'm just doing what seems right..."  
  
"You're doing it for yourself, Shinji," Misato said softly, "You realize that, right?"  
  
It was something he was all too aware of. He knew that he was taking advantage of Asuka, not the other way around.  
  
"You might be right," he admitted.  
  
"You're not helping her. You have to realize that."  
  
"I know that, Misato."   
  
"Then why are you still doing this?"  
  
That was certainly the question, but he had no good answer.   
  
"Well?"  
  
Thankfully, Asuka's arrival prevented him from being forced to reply.   
  
"That bastard!" she cursed, "He's even more devious than I thought! Shinji, we have to go out and look for Rei, right away."  
  
"Rei?" Misato asked, curious, "Isn't she at her apartment?"  
  
"No," she said, addressing Misato's question hurriedly before turning back to Shinji, "I sent her off to find Kaji for me."  
  
"Shinji," she said, "We have to leave right now."  
  
"You sent Rei wandering off too!?" Misato exclaimed, "Did you even tell her father?"  
  
Asuka waved the question off. "She doesn't have any parents. And there's no need to worry about Rei. She can take care of herself."  
  
Misato paled, and turned to Shinji. "You knew about this, didn't you? You let her send that girl out to wander the streets of Tokyo alone?"  
  
"W-well, I mean... it didn't seem like a big thing..." he mumbled, avoiding her judgmental gaze.  
  
"Good lord," she said, grabbing Shinji by the collar of his shirt, "Do you realize how likely it is that something indecent has happened to her by now?"  
  
"One in a thousand?" Asuka guessed.   
  
"Try flipping a coin," Misato said sickly, "I'd give her about fifty/fifty."   
  
End Chapter Eleven  
  
Pre read by LeperMessiah. Sexed by Rev'd.   
All Criticism welcomed.  
^ ^/^ ^.^ /"\- _-?s  



	8. Eight

Chapter 12: Of Misato's Second Search and Rei's Queer Meeting With Asuka's Parents and the Albino Boy Accompanying Them  
  
It was a unique thing for her to be able to wander freely for a while. Accustomed to a life of routine and solitude, the strange happenings befalling her over the previous weeks were quite singular, and, though it can hardly be said that she was thrilled to be randomly roaming the streets of Tokyo, it was at least something different.  
  
For instance, the lenses and dye that she wore at Asuka's request - and now didn't care to remove - drastically altered the way in which others perceived her. Previously viewed as a girl of strange exterior, with blue hair, red eyes and freakishly pale skin, a slight change made her simply an attractive girl that happened to be beautifully pale. Though the change did not largely affect her dealings in school, as the children wouldn't be so quick to forget her previous appearence, her encounters with strangers on the street were greatly changed. For instance, no one would stare at her and then quickly look away, as if afraid of hurting her 'feelings.'  
  
Though being an 'ordinary' person for all intents and purposes, interacting in an 'ordinary' way, was certainly out of the ordinary, but also fairly inconsequential (though obviously worth mentioning), and this complete revolution in attitude was secondary in her mind to the impossible mission she was currently undertaking.  
  
This task in mind, she walked insipidly down the sidewalk with no particular destination, because she had no idea where to go and only the vaguest idea of what she was searching for. She was looking for a man named Ryouji Kaji with the idea that she would deliver a letter to him, but there were no further details as to where she might find him or even what he basically looked like. Asuka gave her a single hint before sending her off, but it was hardly helpful. How was she to identify one residence as being more 'cool' than any other when the criterion for this was completely unknown to her? Was there even a point to continue her mission if there was no hope of success?  
  
Regardless, she had already asked many people about a man named Ryouji Kaji, but it seemed as though no one actually knew anyone else in a city as large as Tokyo. Her efforts showed no progress, and, though it seemed useless to continue, there was nothing else to do. Besides that, she didn't have any desire to return home.  
  
"Do you know a man name Ryouji Kaji," she bluntly asked a young boy waiting at a traffic light, and he stared at her in innocuous confusion.  
  
After a moment of non-thought, he shook his head shortly and said, "No," so she ignored him and walked past him, watching her as if expecting some kind of politeness, like 'thank you'. He expected to be thanked, though he had done nothing useful.  
  
"Do you know a man named Ryouji Kaji," she said, this time asking a ramen stand owner. This was, incidentally, the same man earlier used by Misato in order to find the missing children.  
  
"Can't say I do. What's a girl like you doin' out all alone lookin' fer a guy?"  
  
She ignored him.  
  
Next, she asked a man in a convenience store. "Do you know a man named Ryouji Kaji."  
  
Looking up from a magazine, he seemed confused by the question. He replied after a pause, worriedly, "Is that your father's name? Are you lost?"  
  
"No," she said over her shoulder, for she was already facing away, leaving before he could bother her further with his concern. It was disgusting.  
  
The clouds parted to reveal the sun as she stepped through the automatic doors, and the azure cement was whitened in the sunlight. The fiery radiance of the sun was mildly unpleasant, as would be the bright cement if she looked down, avoiding it, and, though it was only a small discomfort, she suddenly desired to get to some secluded, shaded area, the sort that was rare to find in Tokyo at that early hour.  
  
She found one right away, however, and it was even within seeing distance. There was an empty park right up the street and, scant minutes later; she was sitting comfortably in the shade of a tree, planning to get some well- deserved rest. Ironically enough, this tree stood next to a soon-to-be- famous pond - the same pond in which Asuka immersed herself just hours earlier. As Rei lay underneath, looking up into the multitude of leaves and branches, it occurred to her that her father was probably missing her.  
  
His voice as he called out for her to 'wait' had seemed almost desperate, as if he was losing something that he valued dearly. It was annoying to her that he sometimes behaved that way. like a father, but not quite.  
  
Though he hadn't 'raised' her in the strictest sense of the word, he seemed to like to think of himself as her parent. He was, technically. Her understanding was that her father previously left the parental matters to her mother (an attitude that persisted stupidly even after her premature death) and, in his mind, the responsibility was still primarily not his. Rei was not bitter about this, of course, but his constant attempts to make up for the scarcity of their time spent together her by giving antiquated speeches and scolding her at every opportunity were always irritating. How was she to ever think him sincere?  
  
About six months before, he had given her a seemingly random speech about boys, and told her in a stereotypical and outdated fashion that it wasn't proper for girls to date in High School - as if that had some relevance to her. A week or so later he scolded her for getting a failing grade in one of her classes, and grounded her, thinking that she would care. And so on. He always had the idea that he was her parent (though she didn't share the view), but his idea of parenting was merely to say and do things that sounded appropriate but made no sense in context. He was rarely aware of what the context actually was, however, so he could hardly say anything that was truly helpful. In short, he was a pseudo-parent, though apparently oblivious to this fact.  
  
-  
  
"I'm a little confused," the boy admitted, "You want me to pick a fight with your daughter?"  
  
Asuka's parents walked somewhat hurriedly towards their destination with the silver-haired boy in tow, though they knew that there was only a remote chance that Asuka was still anywhere nearby.  
  
Kyoko answered, "No, no, that's not it at all. We just need you to make sure she doesn't get away. If it's enough - just hold her down."  
  
"But didn't you say I was supposed to challenge her to a fight? I don't see the point."  
  
That is precisely what they had told him, and for good reason. The two parents had an elaborate plan of rehabilitation, previously unrevealed, which involved this boy. It was their good fortune to find someone so completely appropriate.  
  
"Yes," Asuka's father said, "That's part of the plan, because, well, she's under the delusion that she's the 'worlds savior', a 'Pilot Errant' or whatever she's calling herself now. She's even done drawings of beasts called 'angels' that she wants to fight, and one of them was a boy with skin and hair like yours. The rest were all monstrous."  
  
Kaworu was astounded by this information. "Really? You mean that she lives in a fantasy world? But she isn't schizophrenic?"  
  
"No," Kyoko said, "She's perfectly sensible in every other way. Even when she's talking about her fantasies, you wouldn't know that they were fantasies if it wasn't so completely ridiculous."  
  
He mulled over this a moment, and then stated, "I'm still confused. Why don't you get a person that's bigger and stronger if you just need someone to hold her down? Why pretend?"  
  
"Because our plan is a little more complex than that," Kyoko explained, "We want to demonstrate to her that none of this nonsense she's written about is real, if we can, so we want someone that fits the look well enough."  
  
"I don't really understand, but I guess you're lucky to have found me," Kaworu said, with a small smile. "Albinos aren't exactly common."  
  
This statement was somewhat contradicted as they came upon an albino girl, resting in the shade of a cedar. Kyoko pointed at her, turning to her husband, "We'd better find out if that girl's seen anything. The vendor said that she was heading in this direction exactly."  
  
He shook his head. "But that was yesterday. There's no way that girl could know anything unless she actually lives here in the park."  
  
"Well, for all you know she DOES live here," Kyoko said testily, "It can't hurt to ask, anyway."  
  
"Fine, fine," he muttered to himself, throwing up his hands, "Waste as much time as you want."  
  
Kyoko rolled her eyes as she approached the girl, inwardly appreciating the irony. "Excuse me," she said kindly, gently shaking the girl awake, "Are you asleep?"  
  
"No," came a whispered reply from beneath the girl's bangs.  
  
Kyoko blushed slightly, regretting slightly the decision to bother the girl just to spite her husband. Nevertheless, she continued. "Um, we're looking for our daughter, and she's supposed to have come through here. She looks like this." Kyoko handed her a picture of Asuka - a school photo. "You haven't seen her, have you?"  
  
"Asuka."  
  
-  
  
"You two realize how serious this is, right?" Asuka and Shinji sat in the back seat as Misato drove and scolded them, "Hell, girls Rei's age are often part-time prostitutes. Walking around in her school uniform like that..." Misato shook her head. "The odds aren't so good. You two really screwed up."  
  
"That doesn't sound like such a big deal to me," Asuka protested, "It just means she'll have to turn down a few creepy businessmen or something."  
  
"Rei isn't exactly... street smart," Misato said glumly, "I don't know how she'd react to something like that."  
  
"Well she'd obviously just turn them down," Asuka said indignantly, "She's the First Children. She knows this isn't the time and place for that sort of thing."  
  
Shinji saw this as an opportunity to make a stupid joke for some reason, and said with a tentative smile, "Does that mean you'd normally expect her to accept?"  
  
Asuka grimaced, and rolled her eyes. "Just shut up Shinji."  
  
-  
  
"You know her?" the man exclaimed, "That's unbelievable! Where is she?"  
  
The woman cleared her throat and gave him a side-long glance that clearly expressed, 'Be quiet and don't fuck this up.' "Could you please tell us if you know where she went from here?"  
  
"She was never here."  
  
"Oh. Well then." She cleared her throat nervously and turned to the man, who seemed oddly speechless, for support.  
  
Rei spoke. "I am looking for 'Ryouji Kaji'. Do you know him?"  
  
"Ryouji Kaji, you say?" she said, pausing in thought for a moment, "That name does sound familiar."  
  
"Oh, enough of this!" the man shouted suddenly, shoving his wife aside, "You know where Asuka is, right? So you have to show us, as soon as possible. You've obviously seen her. You know her name."  
  
Had Rei been one to find humor in a situation, she might have savored the irony of being disturbed in the very place whence she had retreated for solitude, but, as it was, she could only be annoyed. "I am busy."  
  
"Yeah, you look positively swamped lying there in the shade like that. So what is it then? You want a reward I suppose? Fine." He took out his wallet and started counting out money, in a clichéd fashion.  
  
"That will do," she said, and made as if to stand.  
  
A previously unseen boy, about her age, came into view offering his hand and smiling widely. "Looks like we have a. couple things in common," he said suavely.  
  
He was an albino as well, the first other she had seen in Japan, and she narrowed her eyes slightly in suspicion. His intentions were obvious - he assumed that, because they had those things in common, it was an excuse to share a few other things as well.  
  
Rei ignored the boy's hand as she rose to her feet, instead turning to the older man. "How much?"  
  
"All I have is 50,000 yen. That'll have to do," he said, in a practiced tone of finality.  
  
"Yes," she said, "Follow me." -  
  
"You don't understand, Asuka. Rei isn't a normal girl. I think she has a personality disorder or something."  
  
"No, YOU don't understand." Asuka said, exasperated, then clearing her throat and tilting her chin upwards slightly, she arrogantly asserted, "Rei is a clone of Shinji's mother with bits of DNA from Lilith. She doesn't have a personality disorder. it's more like she isn't human."  
  
"Right."  
  
"Trust me," Asuka insisted, leaning forward between the seats, "She won't let some guy have sex with her. She may be weird. but she isn't stupid."  
  
"Just keep an eye out. There's no use arguing about this now."  
  
Asuka took a deep breath. "You know how idiotic this is, right? How are we going to find her like this?"  
  
"I found you two this way."  
  
"Well. we don't have to look for her anyway," Asuka said, and then, receiving no response, continued angrily, "I'm telling you it won't be a problem!"  
  
Misato, taking this as the last straw, stopped the car with a drawn out screech and turned to face the girl with as much impassivity as she could muster, "Alright then, let's assume that you're right. Rei is a clone of Shinji's mother. Why don't you tell me exactly why it is they look nothing alike?"  
  
"That's easy," Asuka said, smiling confidently, "Rei has red eyes and blue hair due to the complexity of the cloning process."  
  
"That doesn't explain the fact that Rei's breasts are already bigger than Yui's ever were."  
  
Asuka hesitated. "Well. the complexities of the cloning process."  
  
"And Rei looks nothing like Yui anyway. Hey Shinji, you have a picture in your wallet, right?"  
  
He blinked, and nodded.  
  
"Show her."  
  
The picture that Shinji handed to Asuka a moment later was of a short, smiling woman, flat-chested as Misato had already mentioned, wearing a traditional Kimono and standing next to a young Gendou. It was obviously a wedding photo of Shinji's mother, and there was no way to compare her to Rei physically.  
  
Asuka examined the photo thoughtfully, shrugged. "I blame SEELE for this."  
  
The rest of this conversation would perhaps be entertaining to recall (and though I personally wouldn't think so, others certainly would), but I regret to be forced to admit that no proper history of it has been maintained. In any case, it is known that Misato next went to the ramen stand owner (who was getting quite used to these inquiries) in her search for Rei. Asuka, still sitting in the back seat, knew very well that Misato's line of questioning would be fruitless (due to the fact that Rei's hair was currently dyed a different color - something that Misato was unaware of), but didn't try to intervene, as she was in no hurry to find the girl herself. She obviously didn't want the girl's mission to be interrupted before completion.  
  
"Have you seen a girl with blue hair come by here?" Misato asked hurriedly, "She's an albino."  
  
"Hey, didn't you come by here before?" the man stepped from behind his booth and approached the vehicle, and noticed Asuka sitting there. "Looks like you found that other one."  
  
"HAVE YOU SEEN A GIRL WITH BLUE HAIR?" Misato said slowly, teeth gritted, leaning further out the window. I suppose she was beyond politeness at this point.  
  
"Are you okay, Misato?" Shinji asked timidly.  
  
The owner, taken aback, answered, "Well, can't say I have. I saw an albino, least I think I did, but none with blue hair. She was lookin' for someone too. Christ, y'all playing hide-n-seek gone crazy er somethin'?"  
  
Misato responded heatedly, I assume, because the idea that they would be engaged in something so frivolous must certainly have irked her at that particular moment. I'll admit that, again, the rest of this conversation is unknown to me, but one would assume that Misato's reaction to this idea, given her obvious lack of patience by this time, would be considered amusing by some. Regardless, Misato obtained the information she required, and the three of them sped towards the pond, where Misato hoped to find Rei and put an immediate end to the whole affair.  
  
End Chapter 12  
  
A note from the writer - I am getting near the end of this story now, and there will likely be only a few chapters left, depending on a few things. Anyway, I'm currently considering three different endings; feel free to give me your opinion of which is best with a review, email, or whatever.  
  
1) The obvious, Asuka has a breakdown and Shinji is there for her.  
you can imagine the rest. :3  
  
2) The less expected Rei/Shinji ending, of which I will reveal no  
details. ^_^  
  
3) Another A/S ending, but this one with Rei as matchmaker. 


End file.
